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THE    OLD    FARMER 

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Being  some.  OBSERVATIONS  on  Life  and  Manners 

O 

in  New  England  a  Hundred  Tears  Ago 

Suggested  by  Reading  the  Earlier  Numbers  of 

MR.  ROBERT  B.  THOMAS'S  FARMER'S 

ALMANACK 


So 


Together  with  Extracts  Curious,  Instructive,  and  En- 
tertaining^ as  well  as  a  Variety  of 
Miscellaneous  Matter 

BY  GEORGE  LYMAN  .KITTREDGE 


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EMBELLISHED  W^ITH  ENGRAVINGS 
Boston 

WILLIAM     WARE    AND     COMPANY 


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Copyright,   1904 
BY  HORACE  E.    WARE 


THE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS 
CAMB  RIDGE,      U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

NOTHING  is  more  strictly  contemporary  than  an 
almanac,  except,  perhaps,  a  newspaper.  It  is 
issued  for  the  time  being,  and  it  becomes  obso- 
lete, by  a  natural  and  inevitable  process,  when  its  successor 
appears-  But  this  very  quality  of  contemporaneousness 
which  relegates  last  year's  almanac  to  the  dust  heap, 
makes  the  almanac  of  a  hundred  years  ago  an  historical 
document  of  some  importance.  An  author  who  has  his  eye 
on  posterity  may  distort  his  own  environment  in  order  to 
stand  well  with  his  future  readers ;  but  an  almanac-maker 
is  subjected  to  no  such  temptation.  He  appeals  to  the 
immediate  present,  and  his  records  have  all  the  value  of 
incidental  testimony. 

When  Mr.  Robert  B.  Thomas  published  the  first  number 
of  his  Farmer's  Almanack,  in  1792,  he  had  no  thought  of 
providing  material  for  the  student  of  New  England  life  and 
manners  in  the  twentieth  century.  He  wished  to  earn  his 
living  and  to  furnish  his  fellow-citizens  with  something 
better  for  their  sixpence  than  they  were  in  the  habit  of 
receiving  from  other  purveyors  of  similar  intellectual  wares. 
If  he  had  foreseen  that  his  little  annual  would  continue  to 
be  issued  for  more  than  a  century,  he  would  doubtless 
have  been  overwhelmed  by  the  responsibilities  of  his 
undertaking.  He  addressed  himself  to  the  men  of  his 


vi  PREFACE 

own  time,  whom  he  thoroughly  understood,  and  thus  he 
has  enabled  us  too  to  understand  them  the  better. 

Few  volumes  can  claim  so  intimate  an  association  with 
the  people  of  New  England  as  the  Old  Farmer.  "  Books  to 
them,"  wrote  Channing  in  his  Wanderer,  speaking  of  the  un- 
lettered population  of  a  remote  corner  of  the  seacoast,  — 

"  Books  to  them 

Are  the  faint  dreams  of  students,  save  that  one,  — 
The  battered  Almanac,  —  split  to  the  core. 
Fly-blown,  and  tattered,  that  above  the  fire 
Devoted  smokes,  and  furnishes  the  fates, 
And  perigees  and  apogees  of  moons." 

The  library  of  Thousandacres,  in  Cooper's  Chainbearer, 
was  somewhat  more  extensive;  it  consisted  of  "  a  fragment 
of  a  Bible,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  and  an  almanac  that  was 
four  years  old."  But  Mr.  Thomas  did  not  speak  to  the 
uneducated  only.  His  audience  was,  in  the  main,  intelli- 
gent and  enlightened.  If  it  is  true,  as  it  seems  to  be,  that 
the  progress  of  our  country  has  been  largely  determined 
by  the  spirit  and  energy  of  New  England  men  and  women, 
one  may  claim,  without  fear  of  gainsaying,  a  position  of 
some  dignity  for  this  unpretentious  annual,  which  has,  in 
its  successive  issues,  been  their  secular  manual  of  faith  and 
practice  for  so  many  years.  No  apology,  then,  is  neces- 
sary for  the  volume  herewith  presented  to  the  friendly 
reader.  It  follows  in  the  traces  of  an  accredited  guide. 
It  avails  itself  of  what  Milton  calls  "  the  sure  guess  of  well- 
practised  feet." 

Mr.  Thomas,  of  course,  had  collaborators.  His  annual 
acknowledgments  to  patrons  and  correspondents  give 
ample  credit  to  those  who  assisted  him.  In  particular, 
there  is  a  mystery  attaching  to  the  authorship  of  a  portion 


PREFACE  vii 

of  the  Farmer's  Calendar  which  has  never  been  completely 
dissipated,  because  the  ingenious  contributor,  whoever  he 
was,  desired  to  remain  anonymous.  For  convenience,  there- 
fore, the  name  of  the  general  editor  has  been  freely  used  in 
speaking  of  this  part  of  the  Almanac.  We  are  sure,  at 
all  events,  that  the  precepts  of  the  Calendar  were  fully 
approved  by  Mr.  Thomas,  even  if  he  did  not  write  them 
all  with  his  own  hand. 

A  miscellany  like  the  present  is  happily  exempt  from  the 
obligation  of  drawing  up  and  observing  a  definite  pro- 
gramme. Quidquid  agunt  homines  — 

Whate'er  men  do,  or  say,  or  think,  or  dream, 
Our  medley  paper  seizes  for  its  theme. 

Some  of  our  subjects  demand  serious  treatment,  for  they 
concern  the  greater  interests  of  mankind.  Others,  though 
beneath  the  dignity  of  history,  are  none  the  less  significant 
to  such  as  wish  to  understand  what  manner  of  men  our 
forefathers  were.  Still  others  are  trifles  —  "the  perfume 
and  suppliance  of  a  minute."  Yet  the  minor  antiquities  of 
a  race  are  not  to  be  despised.  What  would  scholars  give 
if  they  could  discover  an  Old  Farmer's  Almanack  for  Shak- 
spere's  century,  or  for  Rome  in  the  days  of  Julius  Caesar? 
In  developing  the  topics  suggested  by  the  Almanac,  I 
have  had  recourse  particularly  to  our  older  New  England 
writers  and  to  foreign  travellers  in  America,  of  whom  there 
were  many  soon  after  the  War  of  Independence.  At  times, 
however,  the  temptation  to  go  farther  afield  has  been 
irresistible,  as  in  dealing  with  astrology  and  witchcraft,  or 
in  tracing  the  history  of  the  engravings  which  adorn  the 
Calendar. 


viii  PREFACE 

One  of  the  chief  pleasures  of  writing  a  book  consists  in 
exercising  an  author's  privilege  of  consulting  his  friends, 
and  the  main  object  of  a  preface,  after  all,  is  to  express 
gratitude  for  favors  received.  To  Mr.  Joseph  Willard  I 
am  indebted  for  calling  my  attention  to  an  important  pas- 
sage in  Judge  Sevvall's  Diary  which  would  otherwise  have 
escaped  my  notice.  Mr.  Charles  Armstrong  Snow  and 
Mr.  Henry  Herbert  Edes  have  been  of  material  assistance 
in  elucidating  Mr.  Thomas's  reference  to  Lady  Hayley's 
Garden.  The  chapter  on  Indian  Summer  is  based  on 
the  learned  researches  of  Mr.  Albert  Matthews,  who  has 
allowed  me  to  make  free  use  of  his  article  on  the  subject, 
but  who  must  not  be  held  responsible  for  certain  conclu- 
sions at  which  I  have  tentatively  arrived.  Mr.  Matthews 
has  also  given  me  valuable  information  with  regard  to 
mediaeval  calendars.  The  libraries  of  Harvard  College 
and  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  have  placed  their 
treasures  at  my  disposal.  Professor  Putnam,  of  the  Pea- 
body  Museum  of  Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  has  had  the 
great  kindness  to  permit  the  reproduction  of  a  sketch  of 
a  Massachusetts  Indian  which  was  prepared,  under  his 
direction,  by  Mr.  C.  C.  Willoughby,  and  to  explain  the 
method  of  reconstruction  of  which  this  interesting  figure 
is  the  result.  Mr.  Horace  E.  Ware  has  given  my  pages 
the  benefit  of  friendly  criticism  and  has  made  many  fruit- 
ful suggestions.  I  have  also  consulted  an  article  on  the 
Thomas  Almanacs  by  Mr.  James  H.  Fitts,  in  the  twelfth 
volume  of  the  Essex  Institute  Historical  Collections.  And 
finally,  I  must  express  my  gratitude  to  Dr.  Nathaniel  Ames 
the  Younger,  who,  in  1758,  while  a  student  at  Harvard 
College,  wrote  down,  at  the  beginning  of  his  Diary,  with 


PREFACE  ix 

noble  disregard  for  pointing,  the  following  sentences,  which 
may  serve  as  a  peroration :  — 

"They  who  see  this  in  future  times  may  know  that 
it  is  the  covering  of  an  old  Almanack  1758.  And  do  not 
despise  old  times  too  much  for  remember  that  2  or  3 
centurys  from  the  time  of  seeing  this  you  will  be  counted 
old  times  folks  as  much  as  you  count  us  to  be  so  now,  many 
People  in  these  times  think  the  Consumation  very  nigh 
much  more  may  you  think  so,  and  do  not  think  yourselves 
so  much  wiser  than  we  are  as  to  make  yourselves  proud 
for  the  last  day  is  at  hand  in  which  you  must  give  an 
account  of  what  you  have  been  about  in  this  state  of  Pro- 
bation &  very  likely  you  are  more  given  to  Vice  than  we 
are,  and  we  than  the  last  Century  folks ;  if  you  have 
more  arts  than  we  have  that  you  yourselves  have  found 
out  impute  it  not  to  our  inability  that  we  could  not  find 
them  out  for  if  we  had  had  only  those  very  arts  that  we 
have  now  when  we  first  came  to  settle  in  N.  America  very 
like  we  should  have  found  out  those  very  things  which 
you  have  the  honour  to  be  the  Inventors  of.  —  Dinner  is 
ready  I  must  leave  off." 

G.   L.   K. 

CAMBRIDGE,  November  loth,  1904. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE  MAN  AND  His  BOOK       i 

THE  OLD  FARMER  AND  His  CORRESPONDENTS 25 

ASTROLOGY 39 

THE  MAN  OF  THE  SIGNS 53 

ARTISTIC  EMBELLISHMENT 62 

MURDER  WILL  Our 71 

WIT  AND  WISDOM  OF  THE  FARMER'S  CALENDAR      ....  78 

LAWYERS  AND  QUACKS 98 

THE  TOAD  AND  THE  SPIDER 104 

SUGAR  AND  SALT 121 

THE  FLYING  STATIONER 137 

FIRE! 146 

"DROWNED!  DROWNED!" 158 

HUSKINGS  AND  OTHER  AMUSEMENTS     ........  1 68 

SMALL  ECONOMIES 184 

INDIAN  SUMMER  AND  THE  COMET 191 

ARMY  AND  NAVY 208 

THE  SCHOOLMASTER 216 

TITLES  OF  HONOR 234 

MUNCHAUSEN 240 


xii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE  GREAT  MOON  HOAX 251 

ENTERTAINMENT  FOR  MAN  AND  BEAST 262 

ON  THE  ROAD 285 

HAVE  AN  EVE  TO  THE  MOON  ! 305 

WHAT  TO  READ 315 

BARBERRIES  AND  WHEAT 327 

INDIAN  TALK 333 

MORE  INDIAN  TALK 367 

INDEX 379 


LIST   OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Robert  Bailey  Thomas.    From  a  Painting  in  the  possession  of  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society,  Worcester,  Massachusetts 

Frontispiece 

An  Eighteenth-Century  Bookbinder.    From  an  original  Label  in 

the  Harvard  College  Library 7 

Title-page  of  Osgood  Carleton's  Almanack  for  1792      ....  8 

Robert  Bailey  Thomas.     From  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for  1838  16 

Title-page  of  the  first  Number  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack,  1793  18 

Facsimile  of  Mr.  Thomas's  Signature 22 

Title-page  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for  1795 25 

Horoscope  for  a  Guinea  Voyage,  August  22,  1752.     From  the 

American  Historical  Record,  I,  319 40 

Mock  Horoscope.     From  Poor  Robin's  Almanack  for  1690   .     .       41 
Title-page  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for  1810 62 

Cuts  at  the  head  of  the  Calendar  Pages  for  January  and  August, 

1800.     From  the  Farmer's  Almanack        64 

The  same  for  May,  1801-1803  (from  the  Almanack  for  1803), 

and  December,  1804-1808  (from  that  for  1804)       ....       65 

Circle  of  the  Months.     From  the  Kalender  of  Shepherdes,  1503 

(Sommer's  facsimile  edition,  London,  1892) 66 

Cuts  for  January,  1809-1852  (from  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for 

1820),  and  November  since  1852  (from  that  for  1904)   .       .       67 

Roman   Farmer's  Calendar,  an  inscribed  stone.     From  the  Real 

Museo  Borbonico,  II,  plate  xliv 79 

Facsimile  of  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  October,  1800.     From 

the  Farmer's  Almanack  for  that  year 81 


xiv  LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 
Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World.     From  Glanvil's  Sadducismus 

Triumphatus,  Fourth  Edition,  London,  1726 in 

Fire-engine  at  Work.  From  a  Broadside  of  Adam  Nuttall, 
London,  1760,  in  the  Library  of  the  American  Antiquarian 
Society,  Worcester,  Massachusetts 146 

Summons  to  a  Meeting  of  the  United  Fire  Society  of  Boston 

(instituted  July,  1789).     From  the  original 152 

Observation  of  a  Comet.     Reduced  facsimile  of  the  Title-page 

of  Hevelius'  Cometographia,  Dantzic,  1668 192 

Title-page  of  Increase  Mather's  KOMHTOFPA^IA,  Boston,  1683. 

Harvard  College  Library 200 

Perry's  Victory.     From  a  contemporary  Broadside  in  the  Library 

of  the  American  Antiquarian  Society,  Worcester,  Mass.       .     214 

Title-page  of  Cotton  Mather's  Advice  from  the  Watch  Tower, 

Boston,  1713.     Harvard  College  Library 224 

A  page  of  Dr.  Nathaniel  Ames's  Almanack  for  1751,  showing  his 

Advertisement  of  the  Sun  Tavern,  Dedham,  Massachusetts     264 

Map  of  New  England  showing  the  first  Railroads.     From  the 

Farmer's  Almanack  for  1841        302 

List  of  Roads  to  the  principal  Towns  on  the  Continent,  from 
Boston,  with  the  Names  of  those  who  keep  Houses  of  En- 
tertainment. From  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for  1802.  (Not 
in  absolute  facsimile.) 304 

List  of  Books  for  Sale  by  R.  B.  Thomas  at  Sterling,  Massachu- 
setts, in  1797.  From  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for  that  year. 
(Not  in  absolute  facsimile.) 326 

The  Town  Acts  of  Natick,  Massachusetts,  April  i8th,  1715. 
From  the  Original  in  the  handwriting  of  Thomas  Waban, 
Town  Clerk 346 

A  Massachusetts    Indian.     From  a  sketch  made  by  Mr.  C.  C. 

Willoughby,  under  the  direction  of  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam     359 

Father  Time  as  he  appears  on  the  Title-page  of  the  Farmer's 

Almanack  since  1852 378 


THE  OLD  FARMER  AND 
HIS  ALMANACK 

THE   MAN   AND    HIS    BOOK 

ROBERT  BAILEY  THOMAS  has  been  a  familiar 
name  to  American  ears  for  more  than  a  century, 
and  for  a  considerable  part  of  that  time  his  vener- 
able features  have  been  equally  well  known.  Doubtless 
in  the  minds  of  many  New  Englanders  he  is  intimately 
associated  with  Benjamin  Franklin,  whose  portrait  in 
miniature  has  for  many  years  appeared,  along  with  that 
of  Mr.  Thomas,  in  the  ornamental  border  on  the  cover 
of  the  Old  Farmer's  Almanack.  This  association,  though 
rather  sentimental  than  historical, —  for  it  does  not  appear 
that  the  two  were  acquainted  in  this  life,  —  has  reason  and 
justice  on  its  side.  For  both  were  typical  New  Eng- 
landers ;  both  achieved  success  from  humble  beginnings ; 
both  were  printers  and  publishers,  and  each  was  the 
putter-forth  of  an  almanac  which  has  its  place  in  the 
intellectual  history  of  our  nation.  Nor  is  this  all.  Differ- 
ent as  they  were  in  many  respects,  —  in  character,  en- 
dowments, and  career,  —  Dr.  Franklin  and  Mr.  Thomas 
resembled  each  other  in  the  profession  and  practice  of 
a  certain  homely  philosophy  of  life  which  is  not  the  least 
marked  of  their  characteristics.  Franklin,  to  be  sure,  was 
a  genius,  and  Thomas  was  simply  a  man  of  talent  who 
knew  how  to  make  the  most  of  the  gifts  he  had.  But 
they  were  alike  in  their  remarkable  endowment  of  com- 
mon sense  and  in  their  ability  to  recognize  and  grasp  an 

i 


2  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

opportunity.  Finally,  they  were  both  genuinely  Ameri- 
can in  the  best  sense  of  that  much  abused  and  vaguely 
applied  word.  Franklin's  biography  is  known  to  every- 
body. Thomas,  however,  is  a  somewhat  shadowy  figure 
in  the  minds  of  most  of  us.  Yet  his  life,  quiet  as  it  was, 
is  of  some  interest  to  the  student  of  American  manners, 
and  we  are  fortunate  in  having  authentic  materials  for  its 
reconstruction,  —  nothing  less,  indeed,  than  a  brief  auto- 
biography, published  in  successive  numbers  of  his  own 
annual  from  1833  to  1839,  and  introduced  by  a  sprightly 
paragraph  in  the  issue  for  1832  :  —  "It  is  not  unfrequently 
observed  to  the  Editor,  by  persons  residing  in  neighbour- 
ing States,  or  remote  from  his  residence,  that  they  sup- 
posed him  long  since  numbered  with  the  dead ;  and  that 
the  Farmer's  Almanack  was  calculated  and  edited  by  a 
connexion  of  the  former  editor.  To  satisfy  such,  and  con- 
ceiving it  may  afford  amusement  to  our  patrons  generally, 
I  have  concluded,  if  my  life  and  health  should  be  continued, 
in  our  next  to  give  a  concise  memoir  of  myself  and  ances- 
tors." On  the  basis  of  this  sketch,  with  the  help  of  other 
trustworthy  evidence,  the  following  life  of  Robert  B. 
Thomas  has  been  put  together. 

The  earliest  ancestor  of  whom  we  have  any  knowledge 
was  William  Thomas,  Robert's  grandfather,  a  native  of 
Wales,  who  came  to  America  about  1718.  Family  tradi- 
tion, which  the  author  of  the  Almanac,  with  characteristic 
caution,  refuses  to  vouch  for,  reported  that  he  settled  at 
Stonington,  Connecticut.  At  all  events,  he  was  certainly 
an  inhabitant  of  Marlborough,  Massachusetts,  in  or  about 
1720,  and  he  resided  there  until  his  death  in  1733  (July 
25).  William  Thomas  married  Lydia  Eager,  the  daughter 
of  a  respectable  farmer  of  Shrewsbury,  and  had  six  chil- 
dren, two  sons  and  four  daughters,  —  all  born  in  Marl- 
borough,  the  eldest  in  1721  and  the  youngest,  who  received 
the  singular  name  of  Odoardo,  in  1731.  The  eldest  son 


THE   MAN   AND   HIS   BOOK  3 

William,  born  March  10,  1725,  was  the  father  of  Robert 
Bailey  Thomas. 

William  Thomas,  the  elder,  was  an  educated  man,  having 
been  a  student  at  Christ's  College,  Cambridge.  His  son 
William  had  no  such  opportunities,  but  he  seems  to  have 
inherited  his  father's  fondness  for  books.  His  mother  died 
when  he  was  ten  years  old  (Oct.  12,  1735)  and  he  went  to 
live  in  Shrewsbury  with  his  maternal  grandmother,  Lydia 
(Woods)  Eager,  who  had  lost  her  husband  in  the  preced- 
ing year.  Mrs.  Eager  died  in  1739,  and  William  Thomas 
then  returned  to  Marlborough,  where  his  great-aunt,  Lucy 
(Eager)  Morse,  received  him  into  her  family.  Here  he 
remained  for  some  years,  attending  the  town  school  in  the 
winter,  according  to  the  New  England  custom.  The  terms 
were  short,  but  the  boy  made  the  best  use  of  his  oppor- 
tunities. He  was  fond  of  reading,  and,  in  the  words  of  his 
son,  "he  purchased  many  books  and  soon  became  quite  a 
scholar  for  those  days."  At  the  age  of  nineteen  (1744)  he 
took  charge  of  a  school  at  Brookfield,  and  later  in  the 
same  year  he  "  commenced  in  Hardwick,  being  the  first 
schoolmaster  in  that  town." 

Shortly  after  William  Thomas  came  of  age,  he  under- 
took what  proved  to  be  an  unsuccessful  quest  for  a  property 
in  Wales  to  which  he  had  some  claim  as  his  father's  heir. 
With  this  in  view,  he  left  America  in  April,  1747,  but  was 
captured  in  the  next  month  by  a  French  privateer  from 
Dunkirk  and  lost  all  he  had.  He  was  soon  ransomed  and 
arrived  in  Boston  in  October.  Two  years  later  he  sailed 
for  England  again,  stayed  some  time  in  London,  and  visited 
Wales.  His  claim  was  outlawed,  however,  and  he  returned 
to  America  no  richer  than  before. 

William  Thomas  apparently  had  a  taste  for  adventure, 
which,  as  well  as  his  fondness  for  books,  he  may  have  in- 
herited from  his  father,  the  emigrant  and  student  of  Christ's 
College.  Possibly  he  was  also  desirous  of  making  reprisals 


4        THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

on  the  French.  At  all  events,  he  received  a  lieutenant's 
commission  in  Capt  Samuel  How's  Marlborough  Com- 
pany, and  took  part  in  the  expedition  to  Crown  Point  in 
1756,  serving  for  six  weeks  and  two  days.  In  1757  he 
again  volunteered.  This  time  he  served  for  only  nineteen 

o 

days,  but  it  was  active  service.  He  was  a  lieutenant  in 
Capt.  John  Phelps's  Company,  which  formed  a  part  of  the 
Worcester  County  Regiment  commanded  by  Col.  Ruggles. 
The  regiment  went  to  the  relief  of  Fort  William  Henry, 
leaving  Rutland  in  August,  1757,  and  marching  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  miles. 

His  subsequent  career  is  summed  up  by  his  son,  who 
says  that  it  would  be  difficult  if  not  impossible  to  follow  it 
step  by  step.  He  still  kept  school  at  intervals,  became 
"  assistant  in  a  store,"  and  afterwards  "  went  into  a  small 
way  of  trade  himself."  In  1764  he  bought  a  farm  in  the 
North  Parish  of  Shrewsbury,  now  West  Boylston,  and  in 
the  next  year  he  married,  —  late  in  life,  for  those  days,  for 
he  was  nearly  forty  years  old.  His  wife  was  Azubah, 
daughter  of  Joseph  Goodale,  a  farmer  of  Grafton,  at  whose 
house  Robert  Bailey  Thomas  was  born,  April  24,  1766. 

Two  years  later,  William  Thomas  removed  to  his  farm 
in  the  North  Parish  of  Shrewsbury,  and  there  Robert  was 
brought  up.  He  records  with  amusement  that  "he  resided 
in  four  incorporated  towns,  and  two  distinct  parishes,  and 
one  precinct"  without  leaving  this  same  farm.  The  expla- 
nation of  this  paradox  illustrates  the  rapid  and  perplexing 
changes  in  early  New  England  topography.  "  Shrewsbury 
leg,"  as  the  strip  of  land  where  the  farm  was  situated  was 
called,  was  united  to  the  Second  or  West  Parish  of  Lan- 
caster in  1768.  In  1781  this  parish  was  incorporated  as 
the  town  of  Sterling.  In  1796  certain  parts  of  Boylston, 
Sterling,  and  Holden  were  set  off  as  a  precinct,  by  the 
name  of  the  Second  Parish  of  the  towns  of  Boylston,  Ster- 
ling, and  Holden,  and  in  1808  this  became  the  town  of 


THE   MAN   AND   HIS   BOOK  5 

West  Boylston.  The  paradox  in  question  was  a  matter 
of  local  remark,  as  appears  from  the  words  of  the  Rev. 
C.  C.  P.  Crosby,  minister  of  West  Boylston,  in  his  history 
of  that  town,  in  The  Worcester  Magazine  and  Historical 
Journal  for  August,  1826:  —  "  Among  other  strange  things, 
there  is  a  singular  fraternity  of  men,  who  have  lived  in  five 
incorporated  towns,  and  two  parishes,  and  yet,  have  never 
resided  off  the  farms  where  they  were  born.  This  is  ex- 
plained by  the  tract  called  the  leg  being  so  often  trans- 
fer [r]ed  to  other  towns." 

The  education  of  Robert  Bailey  Thomas  is  an  interesting 
example  of  the  training  of  a  studious  New  England  boy. 
His  grandfather,  we  should  remember,  was  a  Cambridge 
University  man,  and  his  father  offered  to  give  Robert  a  lib- 
eral education,  —  that  is,  probably,  to  send  him  to  Harvard 
College  in  the  new  Cambridge,  founded  by  an  Emmanuel 
College  man.  Robert  declined,  —  for  his  tastes,  as  he 
tells  us,  were  mechanical  rather  than  literary,  —  but  he 
seems  to  have  grasped  every  other  means  of  improving  his 
mind.  He  read  his  father's  books  assiduously,  —  and  he 
says  there  were  a  good  many  of  them.  He  went  to  school 
in  the  winter  and  received  much  instruction  from  his  father, 
for  whose  learning  he  evinces  considerable  respect,  and 
who  "wished  to  make  him  a  scholar."  Superior  penman- 
ship was  then  regarded  as  a  very  valuable  accomplishment, 
and  writing  schools  were  much  resorted  to.  Dr.  T.  Allen 
had  the  reputation  of  "  writing  the  most  beautiful  copy 
hand  of  any  person  in  the  country"  (that  is,  in  that 
region),  and  William  Thomas  sent  his  son  to  Spencer  in 
the  winter  of  1783-84  to  have  the  benefit  of  his  instruc- 
tion. How  much  stress  was  laid  upon  the  art  is  shown 
by  the  fact  that  Robert  followed  his  teacher  to  Sterling 
when  the  winter  term  was  over  and  continued  his  lessons 
until  the  following  April. 

It  is  curious  to  note  that  until  he  was  twenty  years  old 


6        THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Robert  Thomas  had  made  no  progress  in  mathematics. 
In  the  winter  of  1785-86,  he  records,  "I  was  agreeably 
and  closely  occupied  in  the  study  of  arithmetic,  under  my 
father's  inspection,  who  was  well  versed  in  this  science,  but 
had  never  before  allowed  me  to  pay  it  any  attention,  say- 
ing, he  could  learn  me  figures  at  anytime."1 

The  introduction  to  arithmetic,  late  as  it  was,  seems  to 
have  had  a  determining  effect  on  the  career  of  Robert 
Thomas.  Perhaps  he  was  all  the  more  attached  to  the 
beauties  of  the  science  from  not  having  its  difficulties  pre- 
sented to  him  when  he  was  too  young  to  grapple  with 
them.  His  father's  library  contained  a  good  many  scien- 
tific books,  among  them  Ferguson's  Astronomy,  which  the 
young  man  read  with  great  satisfaction,  and  from  which, 
he  says,  "  he  first  imbibed  the  idea  of  calculating  an  alma- 
nack." This  plan  he  never  relinquished.  It  became,  to 
use  his  own  words,  "  his  hobby."  He  made  many  astro- 
nomical computations,  but  found  himself  unable  to  carry 
them  far  enough  for  the  purpose  without  further  instruction. 

Meantime  he  had  temporarily  adopted  the  family  pro- 
fession of  schoolmastering.  He  began  in  1786,  in  his  native 
town,  and  succeeded  so  well  that  the  term  was  lengthened 
by  subscription  after  he  had,  in  the  phrase  of  the  time, 
"  kept  out  the  town's  money,"  that  is,  kept  school  until  the 
money  appropriated  by  the  town  for  that  purpose  was  ex- 
hausted. He  was  obliged  to  "  board  round,"  and,  like 
most  country  schoolmasters  in  their  first  term,  found  many 
of  his  pupils  older  than  himself.  For  the  next  six  years 
Thomas  kept  school  every  winter.  The  terms  were  short, 
and  he  had  the  spring,  summer,  and  early  fall  to  himself. 
He  worked  on  his  father's  farm  and  continued  the  study  of 
astronomy,  but  he  still  found  it  impossible  to  make  all  the 

1  The  reader  will  remember  that  learn  in  the  sense  of  "  teach"  was  for- 
merly in  good  use.  It  is  improper  nowadays,  not  because  of  anything 
essentially  wrong  about  it,  but  because  it  is  an  archaism  that  has  lost  caste. 


THE   MAN   AND   HIS   BOOK  7 

computations  necessary  for  an  almanac.  It  was  in  1792, 
near  the  end  of  his  career  as  a  pedagogue,  that  he  made 
the  acquaintance  of  Miss  Hannah  Beaman,  of  Princeton, 
who  afterwards  became  his  wife  (November  17,  1803). 
The  mechanical  turn  of  mind  which,  as  already  mentioned, 


BOOKS  BOUND 


KINGSinCbrntii] 


AN   EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY   BOOKBINDER 

had  manifested  itself  in  early  life,  found  employment  in 
bookbinding,  —  a  business  which  had  long  attracted  him. 
He  bound  up  manuscripts  and  account-books  and  repaired 
old  books  for  the  neighbors.  From  this  to  bookselling 
was  but  a  step.  In  1790  he  employed  N.  Coverly,  the 
Boston  printer,  to  print  for  him  a  thousand  copies  of 
Perry's  Spelling  Book.  These,  and  other  school-books,  he 


8        THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

bound  up  himself,  and  "  commenced  bookseller."  In  April, 
1792,  he  formed  a  partnership  with  his  younger  brother 
Aaron,  and  they  carried  on  the  binding  business,  at  first  in 
a  room  in  their  father's  house,  afterwards  in  a  bindery  built 
for  the  purpose  near  by.  The  firm  seems  to  have  had  no 
lack  of  work,  some  of  which  came  from  publishers  in  Boston. 
The  fact  that  he  was  now  an  established  dealer  in  books, 
and  had  turned  his  back  on  the  profession  of  teaching, 
gave  Thomas  renewed  hopes  of  publishing  an  almanac  of 
his  own.  Accordingly  in  June  or  July,  1792,  he  went  to 
Boston  and  entered  the  mathematical  school  kept  by 
Osgood  Carleton  "  in  an  unfinished  building  in  Merchant's 
Row."  Here  he  worked  until  the  latter  part  of  August,  and 
made  all  the  calculations  for  the  first  number  of  the  Far- 
mer's Almanack,  that  for  1793.  Carleton  was  a  man  of  some 
ability  and  himself  the  author  of  an  almanac.  Mr.  Thomas 
refers  to  him  with  gratitude  in  one  of  his  early  numbers 
(1802):  — "The  Editor  would  be  very  happy  to  recognize, 
among  his  correspondents,  his  much  respected  patron  and 
friend  O.  C.  who,  not  long  since,  quitted  a  confined  em- 
ployment in  town,  for  a  rural  one  in  the  country." 
Carleton  seems  to  have  been  noted  for  the  purity  of  his 
English  accent,  —  an  accomplishment  which,  shortly  after 
the  Revolution,  caused  him  more  embarrassment  than 
satisfaction.  In  1790,  at  all  events,  he  published  a  re- 
markable advertisement  in  one  of  the  Boston  newspapers, 
the  Herald  of  Freedom  : l  — 

Osgood  Carleton, 

HAVING  been  frequently  applied  to  for  a  decision  of  disputes, 
and  sometimes  wagers,*  respecting  the  place  of  his  na- 
tivity, and  finding  they  sometimes  operate  to  his  disadvantage  : 
Begs  leave  to  give  this  public  information  —  that  he  was  born  in 
Nottingham-west,  in  the  State  of  New- Hampshire  —  in  which 
1  H.  M.  Brooks,  The  Olden  Time  Series,  Boston,  1886,  IV,  55. 


An  ASTRONOMICAL   DIARY 

OR.,     A  H 

ALMANACK, 

For  the  Year  of  our   LORD 


i  79  2 


Being  EifiSEKTiLE,  or  LEAP  YEAR,  and  the  Sixteenth 
of  the  INDEPENDENCE. of  the;  United  States  of  A 
which  commenced  tht  4th  of  July. 

Calculated  for  the  Meridian  of  BOSTON,  In  Latitude  43  Degrees 
and  15  Minutes  North,  and  Longitude  71  Degrees  Weft  of  Greenwich 
Obfrrvatory  ;  but  will  ferve,  without  any  efiential  Error,  for  all'  the 
New-England  States. 

CONTAINING, 

Lunation*  ;  EclJpfes  ;  Afpe  £U  ;..Judgment  of  the  Wea- 
ther ;  Times  of  Rifmg.  Setting,  &c.  of  the  Sun,  Moon, 
and  of  federal  Stare  and  Planets  ;  High-  Water  at  BOS- 
TON, and  a  Table,  (hewing  the  Time  of  High- Water 
at  the  other  moft  noted  Ports  in  America  ;  Lift  of 
Roads  ;  Federal  and  State  Courts  ;  Duties  on  Spirits 
imported,  and  on  tbofe  dl (tilled  within  the  United 
States  ;  with  many  other  interfiling 


ByOSGOOD   CARLETON, 

Teacher  of  Mathematicks,  in  BOSTON. 


HO  W  wonderous  yiis  Starry  Fratoe  ! 
No  Counds  or  Limits  can  we  name  ; 
Could  we  thrfe  Scars  fl/  Aget  through, 
We  more  new  Obi  eels  ftiU  might  view. 
Sceptic  !  'tis  nut  tV  Effect  of  Cbancfc  ; 
A  GOD  did  fpread  the  vaft.  EXPANSE. 


BOSTON: 

Printed  and  fold  by  SAMUEL  HALL,  No.  53,  Cornhill : 
Alfo,  by  THOMAS  C.  CUSHJNG,  at  his  Printing-Office, 
io  S  A  L  E  M 


THE   MAN   AND    HIS   BOOK  9 

state  he  resided  until  sixteen  years  old ;  after  which  time,  he 
traveled  by  sea  and  land  to  various  parts,  and  being  (while 
young)  mostly  conversant  with  the  English,  he  lost  some  of  the 
country  dialect,  which  gives  rise  to  the  above  disputes. 

*  Several  Englishmen  have  disputed  his  being  born  in  America. 

BOSTON,  AUGUST  20,  1790. 

Mr.  Thomas's  account  of  his  sojourn  in  Boston  is  worth 
reproducing  for  its  topographical  interest,  if  for  no  other 
reason. 

"  While  at  Mr.  Carlton's  school,"  he  writes,  "  I  boarded 
in  Milk  Street,  with  J.  Allen,  a  Scotchman.  His  wife  was 
a  young  Englishwoman,  with  whom  I  enjoyed  many  a 
social  hour;  Mr.  Allen  was  bred  a  gardener  in  Scotland, 
and  at  this  time  had  the  sole  care  of  the  then  noted  Lady 
Hayley's  garden,  situated  on  Pemberton  Hill,  late  the 
estate  of  G.  Green,  but  now  entirely  eradicated." 

In  the  garden  and  mansion-house  I  spent  many  pleasant  hours 
in  the  company  of  the  female  members  of  the  family.  I  was  in- 
vited to  take  a  ride  to  Cambridge  at  Commencement  with  my 
young  associates,  and  enjoyed  a  pleasant  time.  In  the  course  of 
the  summer  I  made  an  excursion  with  a  party  to  the  fashionable 
resort  Fresh  Pond,  in  Watertown,  where  we  passed  the  day  in 
different  amusements,  and  spent  our  money  freely.  I  boarded 
in  Milk  Street,  in  the  same  house  that  Mr.  D.  Hill  since  owned, 
and  where  he  kept  a  grocery  store  adjoining.  Mr.  Hill  was  noted 
for  selling  the  best  dry  fish,  or,  at  least,  he  possessed  the  faculty 
of  making  his  customers  believe  it. 

Mr.  Thomas's  mention  of  Lady  Hayley's  garden,  in 
which,  as  well  as  in  the  mansion  house,  he  says  he  spent 
many  pleasant  hours,  recalls  not  only  a  notable  Boston  es- 
tate, but  a  singular  romance  of  provincial  days.  The  fullest 
account  of  Madam  Hayley  (the  title  of  Lady  did  not 
properly  belong  to  her)  is  to  be  found  in  William  Beloe's 


IO 

eccentric  work,  The  Sexagenarian ;  or  the  Recollections 
of  a  Literary  Life,  1817,  in  which  she  appears  as  "  Mrs. 

H ."     Beloe   was  a  Londoner,  who    is  described    by 

Southey,  in  one  of  his  letters,  as  "  an  odd  man  who  talks 
in  a  dialect  of  his  own,  which  puzzled  me  confoundedly."  1 
He  seems  to  have  been  well  acquainted  with  the  subject 
of  his  sketch,  which  may  be  accepted  as  correct  in  the 
main,  though  some  of  the  details  appear  to  be  erroneous. 
Mrs.  Hayley,  he  says,  "  was  the  sister  of  John  Wilkes,  of 
the  famous  memory,  had  a  large  portion  of  his  intellectual 
endowments,  and  was  very  little  his  inferior  in  vivacity, 
humour,  and  wit.  She  was  married  first  to  an  opulent 
merchant,  who  was  succeeded  in  his  business  by  his  head 
clerk,  Mr.  Hayley,  whose  fortunes  were  made  by  his  ob- 
taining the  hand  of  the  widow.  He  was  afterwards  Alder- 
man Hayley,  and  was  a*  near  relation  of  Hayley,  the  poet. 
He  was  a  plain,  sensible,  good  sort  of  man,  wholly  absorbed 
in  commercial  pursuits,  and  soon  found  it  expedient,  for 
the  sake  of  a  quiet  life,  to  suffer  his  cara  sposo  to  do  as  she 
liked.  She  was  exceedingly  well  informed,  had  read  a  great 
deal,  possessed  a  fine  taste,  and,  with  respect  to  literary 
merit,  considerable  judgment.  She  accordingly  sought 
with  much  avidity,  the  society  of  those  who  were  distin- 
guished in  the  world  by  their  talents  and  their  writings. 
When  the  expression  of  those  is  used,  it  must  be  understood 
to  apply  to  men  only,  for  on  all  occasions  she  was  at  no 
pains  to  conceal  her  contemptuous  opinion  of  her  own  sex  ; 
and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  her  at  table,  sur- 
rounded with  ten  or  twelve  eminent  men,  without  a  single 
female. 

"  She  had  great  conversation  talents,  and  unfortu- 
nately, like  her  brother,  she  seldom  permitted  any  ideas 
of  religion,  or  even  of  delicacy,  to  impose  a  restraint  upon 
her  observations. 

1  To  Grosvenor  Bedford,  Jan.  28,  1800,  Selections  from  Letters,  ed. 
Warter,  I,  91. 


THE   MAN   AND   HIS   BOOK  II 

"  Her  disregard  of  propriety  was  also  and  conspicuously 
manifested  on  other  occasions.  She  invariably  attended 
all  the  more  remarkable  trials  at  the  Old  Bailey,  where  she 
regularly  had  a  certain  place  reserved  for  her.  When  the 
discussion  or  trial  was  of  such  a  nature,  that  decorum,  and 
indeed  the  Judges  themselves,  desired  women  to  withdraw, 
she  never  stirred  from  her  place,  but  persisted  in  remaining 
to  hear  the  whole,  with  the  most  unmoved  and  unblushing 
earnestness  of  attention."  1 

After  the  death  of  her  husband,  Madam  Hayley  came 
to  America  to  attend  to  his  affairs  in  New  England,  where 
large  sums  were  due  him.  Here  we  may  abandon  Beloe 
and  pass  over  to  the  Recollections  of  Samuel  Breck,  who 
was  born  in  Boston  in  1771  and  passed  his  youth  there, 
so  that  he  is  a  good  authority  for  Madam  Hayley's  Amer- 
ican experiences.  She  was  pleased  with  Boston,  he  says, 
and  "  purchased  a  beautiful  house  in  Tremont  Street,  for- 
merly the  residence  of  the  Varsall  [i.  e.  Vassall]  refugee 
family.  .  .  .  Thus  splendidly  lodged,  she  formed  her  whole 
establishment  in  a  style  suitable  to  the  mansion.  The 
gayest  liveries  and  equipage,  the  richest  furniture,  the 
most  hospitable  and  best-served  table  —  all  these  were  dis- 
played to  the  greatest  advantage  by  the  widow  Hayley. 
She  had  certainly  passed  her  grand  climacteric,  and  in  her 
mouth  was  a  single  tooth  of  an  ebon  color.  Her  favorite 
dress  was  a  red  cloth  riding-habit  and  black  beaver  hat. 
In  these  she  looked  very  like  an  old  man.  Thus  attired 
on  some  gala  day,  she  was  paying  a  visit  to  Mrs.  Hancock, 
when  Van  Berkle,  the  Dutch  envoy,  happened  to  be  in 
Boston.  He  came,  of  course,  to  salute  the  Governor,  with 
whom,  however,  he  was  not  personally  acquainted.  On 
entering  the  room,  he  saw  a  venerable  head,  decorated 
with  a  hat  and  plumes,  belonging  to  a  person  robed  in 
scarlet  and  seated  in  an  arm-chair  in  a  conspicuous  part  of 
1  Beloe,  The  Sexagenarian,  2d  ed.,  1818,  I,  324-5. 


12  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

the  room,  and  knowing  that  Governor  Hancock  was  too 
gouty  to  walk,  he  very  naturally  concluded  that  the  person 
before  him  was  the  master  of  the  house.  He  accordingly 
approached,  and,  bowing,  said  he  hoped  his  Excellency  was 
better ;  that  being  on  a  visit  to  Boston,  he  had  ventured 
to  introduce  himself,  for  the  purpose  of  testifying  in  per- 
son his  high  admiration,  etc.,  etc.  Before  his  compliment 
was  finished,  the  lady  undeceived  him,  but  in  such  a  manner 
as  put  the  minister  perfectly  at  his  ease." 

According  to  Mr.  Breck,  she  was  "  the  principal  star  " 
of  Boston  society.  "  Nothing,"  he  declares,  "  could  more 
exactly  resemble  her  brother  than  she  did,  except  in  the 
double  squint,  which  she  had  not ;  and  as  he  was  the  ugliest 
man  in  England,  the  family  likeness  so  strongly  stamped 
on  the  face  of  the  sister  left  her  without  any  claim  to 
beauty.  Yet  her  highly  gifted  mind  and  elegant  manners 
much  more  than  balanced  that  deficiency." 

"  This  most  excellent  woman,"  continues  Mr.  Breck, 
"  had  surrounded  herself  with  a  menagerie,  so  that  the 
court-yard  was  filled  with  cockatoos,  poll  parrots,  and 
monkeys ;  yet  she  felt  herself  lonely,  and  set  her  cap  for 
a  husband.  There  was  a  young  Scotsman  then  in  Boston 
who  was  agent  for  a  British  mercantile  house.  His  name 
was  Jeffrey  —  a  man  well  educated  and  of  gentlemanly 
address.  To  him  Mrs.  Hayley  gave  her  hand  and  fortune. 
Out  of  sixty  or  seventy  thousand  pounds  sterling,  she  did 
not  reserve  a  shilling  for  herself;  but,  in  a  fit  of  girlish 
love,  poured  the  whole  into  the  pocket  of  this  young 
stranger,  whose  age  could  not  have  been  one-half  her  own. 
Of  this  act  of  egregious  folly  she  lived  long  enough  to  re- 
pent." *  The  marriage  of  Patrick  Jeffrey,  Esq.,  and  Mary 
Hayley  took  place  at  Trinity  Church,  Boston,  February 
13,  1786.  She  had  not  been  in  Boston  more  than  five 
years,  for  her  former  husband,  Alderman  Hayley,  died  in 

1  Harper's  Magazine,  LIV,  827-8. 


THE   MAN  AND   HIS   BOOK  13 

1 78 1.1  Neither  Beloe  nor  Breck  gives  any  dates,  so  that  it 
is  necessary  to  supply  them  from  other  sources.  We  may 
now  return  to  Beloe,  who  fully  justifies  Southey's  opinion 
of  his  style :  — 

The  hours  of  rapture,  even  with  younger  subjects,  (votaries  at 
the  Hymeneal  shrine)  do  not  always  extend  beyond  the  honey- 
moon. When  a  female,  approaching  to  seventy,  leads  to  the 
altar  a  bridegroom  who  has  not  seen  thirty,  these  hours  of  Elysium 
seldom  continue  quite  so  long.  In  a  very  short  interval,  a  sepa- 
ration was  mutually  thought  expedient.  The  lady  .  .  .  had  con- 
fided everything  to  the  generosity  of  her  husband,  and,  with  such 
an  allowance  as  he  thought  proper  to  make  her,  she  took  a  very 
early  opportunity  of  re-crossing  the  Atlantic ;  and  after  a  short 
residence  in  London,  fixed  herself  at  Bath,  where  she  passed 

"An  old  age  of  cards."  2 

Beloe's  account  of  the  disparity  of  age  is  partly  borne  out 
by  the  records.  Jeffrey  died  in  1812,  aged  sixty-four,3  so 
that  he  must  have  been  about  thirty-eight  years  old  when 
he  married  Madam  Hayley.  There  is  no  evidence  that  he 
was  illiberal  to  his  wife  when  they  parted.  After  they  sepa- 
rated he  removed  to  Milton,  where  he  bought  the  Governor 
Hutchinson  house  and  lived  in  considerable  state.4 

Mrs.  Jeffrey's  death  is  thus  recorded  in  the  Gentleman's 
Magazine,  under  date  of  May  9,  1808:  —  "In  Gay-street, 
Bath,  Mrs.  Jeffrey,  relict  of  Alderman  Hayley,  and  sister 
to  the  long-celebrated  John  Wilkes,  esq.,  whose  wit  and 
abilities  she  in  great  measure  possessed,  added  to  a  most 
benevolent  heart."  6 

The  Vassall  house,  which  Breck  says  was  purchased  by 

1  Nichols,  Literary  Anecdotes,  IX,  453.     Her  first  husband  was  Samuel 
Storke,  who  died  about  1753. 

2  Beloe,  The  Sexagenarian,  2d  ed.,  1818,  I,  332. 

3  Boston  Town   Records  ;  Milton  Town   Records,  p.   231  ;   Columbian 
Centinel  for  May  13,  1812. 

4  E.  J.  Baker,  in  History  of  Milton,  ed.  by  Teele,  p.  138. 

5  LXXVIII,  469;  cf.  p.  555. 


14  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

the  Widow  Hayley,  is  the  mansion  to  which  Mr.  Thomas 
refers.  Breck's  account  of  the  matter  is  not  quite  accurate. 
The  purchase  was  made  by  Jeffrey,  in  1790,  four  years 
after  his  marriage  to  the  widow.  This  was  one  of  the 
most  famous  estates  in  Boston.  It  included  what  is  now 
Pemberton  Square  and  had  a  frontage  of  163  feet  on 
Tremont  Street.  Vassall  bought  it  in  1758  of  the  heirs 
of  Judith  Cooper,  who  was  Judge  Sewall's  daughter  and 
had  inherited  the  property  from  him.  The  previous 
owners  had  been  successively  the  Rev.  John  Cotton,  his 
son,  Seaborn  Cotton,  and  John  Hull,  the  famous  mint- 
master,  whose  daughter  Hannah  was  Sewall's  first  wife. 
Sir  Henry  Vane  had  lived  there  when  he  was  in  Boston. 
Vassall  paid  £  1 ,250  for  the  property,  —  a  sum  which  brings 
home  to  one  the  advance  in  the  price  of  real  estate  in  this 
vicinity ! 

Jeffrey  sold  a  part  of  the  property  to  Jonathan  Mason 
in  1802,  and  this  Mason  transferred  to  Gardiner  Greene 
in  the  next  year.  Greene's  lot  included  considerably  more 
than  the  present  Pemberton  Square,  for  it  ran  back  to 
Somerset  Street  and  came  down  to  Tremont  Street.  He 
afterwards  added  an  adjacent  estate,  so  that  his  Tremont 
Street  frontage  was  three  hundred  feet.1  When  Mr.  Thomas 
was  in  Boston,  in  1792,  preparing  the  first  number  of  his 
Almanac,  the  property  had  been  in  the  hands  of  Jeffrey 
and  his  wife  for  a  couple  of  years.  Naturally  enough,  the 
beautiful  terraced  garden,  which  was  one  of  the  sights  of 
the  town,  was  called  Lady  Hayley's,  rather  than  Mrs. 
Jeffrey's.  That  lady  had  become  so  famous  under  her 
former  designation  that  she  continued  to  be  known  by  it 
even  after  her  marriage  to  Patrick  Jeffrey. 

In  August,  1792,  the  smallpox  became  so  prevalent  in 
Boston  that  Mr.  Thomas  left  town.  After  a  few  weeks, 

1  For  the  history  of  the  estate,  see  the  long  editorial  note  in  the  Diary 
of  Samuel  Sewall,  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  5th  series,  V,  59  ff. 


THE   MAN   AND   HIS   BOOK      .  15 

he  submitted  himself  to  inoculation  in  "  the  hospital  in 
Worcester,  situated  on  the  hill  a  mile  north  of  the  street." 
His  account  of  this  experience,  though  brief,  is  not  without 
interest,  for  it  gives  one  an  inkling  of  his  philosophy  of 
life.  "  I  flattered  myself,"  he  writes,  "  and  was  flattered  by 
the  doctor,  of  being  a  good  subject,  and  would  have  the 
disease  light,  having  never  exposed  myself  to  heat  and  cold 
nor  excessive  labor,  and  had  ever  been  temperate;  but  it  turned 
out  quite  otherwise.  I  had  the  disease  very  severely.  For 
many  days  my  life  was  despaired  of;  and,  in  fact,  it  was,  I 
afterwards  learned,  currently  reported  in  the  neighboring 
towns  that  I  was  dead."  He  was  five  weeks  at  the  hospital, 
and  he  speaks  in  the  warmest  terms  of  the  kind  attention 
he  received.  The  autobiography  concludes  with  these 
words:  — "  After  I  returned  home  I  was  weak  and  feeble 
for  some  months;  after  which  I  enjoyed  good  health,  and, 
in  general,  have  to  this  day,  though  advanced  in  life." 

Mr.  Thomas  lived  several  years  after  the  publication  of 
his  autobiography.  He  died  at  his  home  in  West  Boylston, 
May  19,  1846,  "  leaving  a  large  estate  to  his  widow,  and  the 
two  children  of  his  deceased  brother."  1  The  Almanac  for 
1847  begins  with  these  words,  which  are  his  most  fitting 
obituary :  — 

In  presenting  to  our  friends  the  Fifty-fifth  Number  of  the 
Almanac,  our  pleasure  is  saddened  by  deep  and  heartfelt  re- 
gret, at  having  to  announce  the  death  of  the  senior  editor  of 
the  work,  whose  name  it  bears.  He  died  May  ipth,  1846,  aged 
80,  after  a  long  and  useful  life,  beloved  and  respected  by  all  who 
knew  him,  in  deed  and  in  truth,  "  that  noblest  work  of  God,  an 
honest  man."  We  feel  that  it  is  due  to  him,  that  this  testimony 
to  the  purity  of  his  character  should  be  recorded  here.  He  was 
a  man  of  strong  practical  good  sense,  "  kind  of  heart  and  open 
of  hand,"  virtuous,  upright,  and  scrupulously  honorable  in  all  his 
dealings. 

1  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green,  in  the  Almanac  for  1892,  the  hundredth  number. 


i6 


THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 


The  house  in  which  Mr.  Thomas  lived  for  many  years 
has  lately  been  removed  in  clearing  the  ground  for  the 
great  Reservoir  of  the  Metropolitan  System  of  water- 
works.1 

A  small  portrait  of  Mr.  Thomas  —  a  woodcut  —  ap- 
peared in  the  Almanac  for  1837,  witn  a  characteristic 


ROBERT  BAILEY  THOMAS 
(From  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for  1838) 

note  :  —  "In  justice  to  myself,  I  ought  to  state  that  my  like- 
ness is  inserted  .  .  .  at  the  special  desire  of  my  publishers." 
The  cut  is  repeated  in  1838.  There  is  a  full-length  por- 
trait, painted  by  an  unknown  artist,2  in  the  hall  of  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society  at  Worcester,  and  this  is  re- 
produced in  the  hundredth  number  of  the  Almanac  (1892), 

1  See  New  York  Observer,  May  n,  1899;  Worcester  Evening   Gazette, 
May  23,  1899. 

2  Sometimes  ascribed  to  one  Talcott :  see  Proc.  Amer.  Antiq.  Soc.,  New 
Series,  VII,  357. 


THE   MAN  AND   HIS   BOOK  IJ 

to  accompany  a  brief  biography  by  Dr.  Samuel  Abbott 
Green.  Both  likenesses  are  given  in  the  present  volume.1 

The  first  number  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack,  that  for 
1793,  was  issued  in  the  latter  part  of  1792.  It  was  a  signifi- 
cant moment  in  American  history.  National  consciousness 
was  in  the  full  tide  of  development.  Washington's  first 
administration  was  drawing  to  a  close.  Five  years  before, 
the  Constitution  had  been  framed,  and  four  years  before  it 
had  been  ratified  by  the  requisite  number  of  States,  and 
had  gone  into  effect  as  the  highest  law  of  the  land.  There 
was  reasonable  assurance  that  the  United  States  govern- 
ment would  succeed.  The  strong  men  of  the  Revolutionary 
period  were  in  the  vigor  of  mature  manhood.  It  was  a 
time  of  energetic  and  intelligent  effort  in  all  directions. 
"  It  has  been  a  question,"  said  President  Stiles  of  Yale, 
in  his  sermon  on  The  United  States  Elevated  to  Glory 
and  Honour,  delivered  in  1783,  "whether  Agriculture  or 
Commerce,  needs  most  encouragement  in  these  states?  But 
the  motives  for  both  seem  abundantly  sufficient.  Never 
did  they  operate  more  strongly  than  at  present.  The 
whole  continent  is  activity,  and  in  the  lively  vigorous  exer- 
tion of  industry."  z  Men's  hopes  were  high  ;  nothing  seemed 
too  great  for  the  future  to  bring  forth.  "  All  the  arts," 
said  the  same  eloquent  preacher,  "  may  be  transplanted 
from  Europe  and  Asia,  and  flourish  in  America  with  an  aug- 
mented lustre."3  He  even  ventured  to  predict  that  "the 
rough  sonorous  diction  of  the  English  language  may  here 
take  its  Athenian  polish,  and  receive  its  Attick  urbanity; 
as  it  will  probably  become  the  vernacular  tongue  of  more 
numerous  millions,  than  ever  spake  one  language  on 
earth."4  The  latter  part  of  this  prediction  has  been 
fulfilled. 

Mr.  Thomas    addressed   a  prosperous,   intelligent,   and 

1  See  p.  1 6,  and  Frontispiece. 

2  P.  50.  3  P.  86.  *  P.  87. 

2 


1 8       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

aspiring  community.  He  got  the  ear  of  his  audience  at 
the  outset  and  has  never  lost  their  attention.  The  one 
hundred  and  thirteen  successive  issues  of  his  Almanac 
cover  almost  exactly  the  same  period  as  the  history  of  the 
United  States  under  the  Constitution.  The  changes  and 
the  development  of  more  than  a  century  may  be  followed 
step  by  step  in  its  pages.  It  need  not  surprise  us,  there- 
fore, that  a  file  of  these  old  almanacs  affords  an  abundance 
of  curious  information  and  not  a  little  entertainment. 

The  first  number  was  presented  to  the  public  with  a  pref- 
atory address  which  must  be  copied  in  full:  — 

PREFACE. 

FRIENDLY    READER, 

HAD  it  not  been  the  prevailing  custom  to  usher  these  period- 
ical pieces  into  the  world  by  a  preface,  I  would  have  ex- 
cused myself  the  trouble  of  writing,  and  you  of  reading  one  to 
this  :  for  if  it  be  well  executed,  a  preface  will  add  nothing  to  its 
merit ;  if  otherwise,  it  will  be  far  from  supplying  its  defects. 

Having,  for  several  years  past,  paid  some  attention  to  that 
divine  science,  Astronomy,  the  study  of  which  must  afford  infinite 
pleasure  and  satisfaction  to  every  contemplative  mind,  it  is  this, 
with  the  repeated  solicitations  of  my  friends,  that  have  induced 
me  to  present  you  with  these  Astronomical  Calculations  for  the 
year  1793  ;  which  I  have  thought  proper  to  entitle  the  Farmer's 
Almanac,  as  I  have  made  it  my  principal  aim  to  make  it  as  use- 
ful as  possible  to  that  class  of  people  :  Therefore,  should  there  be 
any  thing  in  it  that  may  appear  of  small  moment,  it  is  hoped  the 
Literati  will  excuse  it. 

The  arrangement  of  this  Almanac  is  novel,  though  I  have  the 
vanity  to  believe  it  will  be  found  to  be  as  useful  and  convenient 
as  any  other  almanac  either  of  a  double  or  single  calendar.  I 
have  taken  peculiar  care  to  make  the  calculations  accurate  in 
every  respect ;  and  beside  the  more  than  usual  astronomical  cal- 
culations, I  have  added  the  rising,  setting,  or  southing  of  the 


[N°-  I.] 
THE 

FARMER'S  ALMANAC, 

CALCULATED  ON  A  NEW  AND  IMPROVED  PLAN, 

FOR  THE  YEAR  OF  OUR  LORD 


Being  thefirfl  after  Leap  Year,  and  fruentecnth  of  th 
Independence  of  America. 

Fitted  to  the  town  of  BOSTON,  but  will  ferve  for  any  o 
the  Adjoining  States. 

Containing,  befides  the  large  number  of  ASTRO 
NOMICAL  CALCULATIONS  and  FARNIER'$CA 
LEN  D  A.R  for  every  month  in  the  year,  as  great  a  vari 
ety  as  are  to  be  found  in  any  other  Almanac, 

0/~NEW,  USEFUL,  and  ENTERTAINING  MATTER. 


BY  ROBERT  B.  THOMAS. 


"  WKile  the  bright  radient  fun  in  centre  glows, 
The  earth,  in  annual  motion  round  it  goes  ; 
At  the  fame  time  on  IBS  own  axis  reels, 
And  gives  us  change  of  feafons  as  it  wheels." 


Publi/hed  according  to  Aft  of  Congrefs, 


PRINTED  AT  THE  &poll0  P«fe,   IN   BOSTON, 

BY     BELKNAP    AND    HALL, 

Sold  at  their  Office,  State  Street  j  alfo,  by  the  Author 

and  M.  Smith,  Sterling. 
fingle,  4*.  per  dozen,  40*.  fier groee.~] 


THE   MAN   AND   HIS   BOOK  19 

seven  stars,  for  every  evening  through  the  year.  As  to  my  judg- 
ment of  the  weather,  I  need  say  but  little ;  for  you  will  in  one 
year's  time,  without  any  assistance  of  mine,  very  easily  discover 
how  near  I  have  come  to  the  truth.  And  now,  friendly  reader, 
this  being  only  an  essay,  which,  should  it  meet  with  the  Public's 
unprejudiced  approbation,  you  may  expect  to  hear  again  from 
your's,  and  the  Public's 

Most  obedient  humble  servant, 

ROBERT   B.   THOMAS. 
Sterling,  Sept.  15. 

Fifty  years  later,  in  the  Almanac  for  1842,  the  vener- 
able author  looks  back  over  the  past  with  modest  pride. 
His  annual  had  become  a  recognized  New  England  insti- 
tution, and  his  feeling  that  his  yearly  admonitions  were 
now  read  by  the  grandsons  of  his  first  patrons  and  corre- 
spondents lends  additional  interest  to  his  reminiscences. 
They  are  not  the  random  jottings  of  a  casual  recollection, 
but  rather  the  systematic  memories  of  a  chronicler  who  has 
habituated  himself  to  sum  up  each  year  as  it  passed. 

FIFTY   YEARS   AGO! 

It  is  just  fifty  years,  Friends  and  Patrons,  old  and  new  —  we 
know  not  which  are  the  most  numerous,  or  the  most  kind,  you 
who  have  gone  hand  in  hand  with  us  for  half  a  century,  or  you 
who  have  known  us  but  a  few  short  summers  —  it  is  just  fifty  years 
since  we  started  our  unpretending,  but,  as  we  trust,  useful  annual ! 
Fifty  years  !  It  is  a  life  by  itself !  —  In  that  time  how  many  mil- 
lions, who  were,  half  a  century  ago,  living,  breathing  and  moving, 
full  of  hope,  of  young  life,  of  energy  and  of  vigor,  have  gone  down 
to  the  silent  grave  !  In  that  time  what  countless  millions  of  the 
human  race  have  been  called  "  to  sleep  the  sleep  that  knows  no 
waking  !  "  It  is  now  but  a  little  over  fifty  years  since  the  immortal 
Franklin,  author  of  that  quaint,  but  time-honored  work,  "  Poor 
Richard's  Almanac,"  died ;  he  who  "  wrested  the  lightning  from 
the  heavens,  and  the  sceptre  from  the  tyrant."  Fifty  years  since, 


2O  THE   OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

and  the  high  and  pure-souled  Washington,  one  of  the  noblest 
characters  that  our  country,  ay  !  or  any  country  has  produced, 
was  alive,  directing  with  his  wisdom,  and  giving,  by  his  presence 
and  counsels,  new  vigor  to  those  energies  which  the  people  of 
these  United  States  hardly  dared  to  hope  that  they  possessed  ! 

Within  fifty  years,  while  we  have  gone  on,  in  the  even  tenor  of 
our  way,  our  blessed  country  has  stretched  upward,  from  the  lithe 
and  pliant  sapling,  to  the  strong  and  mighty  tree,  spreading  abroad 
her  majestic  branches,  giving  shade  and  protection  to  all  who  have 
sought  her  shelter,  and  firmly  establishing  herself  among  the  other 
nations  of  the  earth,  with  a  population  increased,  during  that  time, 
from  hardly  four  millions  to  seventeen  millions. 

Fifty  years  ago,  and  cities,  now  full  of  thousands  of  souls,  were 
the  hunting-ground  of  the  Indian,  and  covered  only  by  the  forest 
or  the  swamp.  Fifty  years  ago,  and  the  city  of  New  York  con- 
tained but  about  33,000  inhabitants;  it  has  now  312,000.  Bos- 
ton then  about  18,000,  now  93,000.  Philadelphia  then  about 
40,000,  now  260,000.  Baltimore,  which  then  had  but  about 
13,000,  has  now  100,000. 

Fifty  years  ago,  and  we  had  nothing  of  the  gigantic  wonders  of 
steam ;  we  had  no  boiling  cauldrons  traversing  the  land  and 
water,  puffing  and  groaning,  and  pulling  or  pushing  enormous 
masses  with  fury  along,  now  here,  now  there,  as  the  master  spirit 
which  controlled  them  might  dictate.  Fifty  years  ago,  the  worthy 
fathers  and  mothers  of  the  present  generation  were  willing  to 
dress  in  their  own  homespun ;  the  busy  wheel  was  whirring  by 
the  kitchen  fireside,  the  knitting-needles  were  plied,  and  the  wool 
woven  in  the  house,  and  the  finer  fabrics  dressed  at  the  fulling- 
mill,  which  has  given  away  to  the  spacious  factory.  The  water- 
fall and  steam  engine,  the  improved  spindles  and  other  machines, 
manufacture  now  millions  of  yards,  where  fifty  years  since  only 
hundreds  were  made,  and  that  by  the  industrious  and  thrifty 
hands  of  the  mothers  and  daughters  of  the  hardy  farmers  of  those 
days. 

With  all  the  changes  that  have  been  going  on  in  the  great  world, 
the  course  of  our  America  has  been  "  onward  and  upward."  We 


THE   MAN   AND   HIS   BOOK  21 

have  had  as  presidents,  our  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  Mon- 
roe, Adams,  father  and  son,  Jackson,  Van  Buren,  Harrison,  and  now 
Tyler.  England  has  had  her  Georges  III.  and  IV.,  her  William 
IV.,  and  now  has  her  Victoria.  France  has  had  more  changes, 
has  been  the  scene  of  more  violence  and  more  exciting  and  ter- 
rible commotions,  than  almost  any  other  part  of  the  civilized 
world,  and  from  which,  thanks  to  a  kind  Providence,  we  have 
been  measurably  exempt.  Within  fifty  years  Russia  and  all  the 
countries  of  the  old  world  have  had  their  changes,  some  natural, 
others  startling  and  impressive.  The  South  Sea  Islander  has  be- 
come converted  to  the  gospel  —  the  whole  continent  of  New  Hol- 
land, fifty  years  since  a  barren  wilderness,  has  been  partly  peopled. 
The  Turk  has  recognized  the  Jew  as  a  human  being  and  a  brother  ; 
he  has  exchanged  dress  with  the  Christian. 

Within  the  past  fifty  years  science  has  done  wonders  for  the 
human  race ;  she  has  by  her  discoveries,  the  facilities  she  has 
created,  the  powers  she  has  developed,  added  to  the  wealth  and 
happiness  of  almost  every  class  in  our  land.  The  farmer,  among 
others,  is  indebted  to  her  for  his  well  constructed  ploughs,  his 
improved  breeds  of  cattle  and  swine,  new  varieties  of  seeds  and 
grain,  as  well  as  trees,  shrubs,  and  vines,  and  his  improved  imple- 
ments of  every  kind,  from  the  simple  apple-peeler  to  the  steam 
threshing  machine.  Domestic  economy  too  has  been  indebted  to 
science  for  implements  to  add  to  our  convenience  and  comfort. 
Within  the  past  fifty  years,  commerce  has  made  brethren  and 
friends  of  the  remote  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  the  cause  of  Peace 
has,  as  we  trust,  been  progressing,  that  of  Philanthropy  and  Tem- 
perance is  rapidly  advancing,  and  we  trust  as  nations  grow  wiser, 
better  acquainted,  more  civilized,  that  vice  and  ignorance  will  give 
place  to  virtue  and  knowledge,  and  the  horrors  of  war  to  the  quiet 
blessings  of  peace  and  good  fellowship. 

Though  we  have  now  accomplished  what  has  seldom  been  done 
in  this  or  any  other  country,  as  we  believe,  the  getting  up  and 
publication  for  half  a  century  of  a  manual,  edited  by  the  same 
person,  even  as  unpretending  as  our  modest  and  homely  annual, 
we  do  not  mean  to  rest  here ;  should  we  be  spared,  we  shall  go 


22  THE   OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

on,  as  we  trust,  to  "  a  good  old  age,"  and  though  we  may  not 
reach  the  looth  number  of  the  "OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANAC,"  yet 
we  shall  endeavor  to  improve  as  we  progress,  and  continue  to 
unfold  our  yearly  budget  to  our  patrons  as  long  as  Providence 
permits,  hoping  always  to  meet  them  with  a  smiling  face,  and  that 
they  will  not  be  disposed  to  cut  our  acquaintance,  as  a  modern 
dandy  would  a  rusty  cousin  from  the  backwoods,  because  we  look, 
as  we  pride  ourselves  in  looking,  a  little  old-fashioned,  a  little  too 
independent  to  change  our  dress  for  each  "  new-fangled  notion  " 
—  a  little  "  t'other  side  of  fifty." 

Friends  and  Patrons  !  The  form  of  the  editor  who  has  jogged 
along  side  by  side  with  the  older  ones  of  you  for  fifty  years,  will, 
with  many  other  forms  now  full  of  life  and  vigor,  before  another 
half  century,  be  crumbling  in  the  dust !  The  world  that  now 
seems  so  joyous  will  ere  that  time  have  passed  away  from  many 
millions  now  alive,  it  may  be  from  the  reader  as  well  as  from  us ; 
and  if  so,  may  we  receive  the  reward  of  the  pure  in  heart,  may 
our  sins  be  forgiven  us,  and  may  our  virtues  be  held  in  fond  re- 
membrance by  those  who  have  best  known  us  on  earth,  and  may 
we  pass  to  our  final  account  as  those 

"...  who  wrap  the  drapery  of  their  couch 
About  them,  and  lie  down  to  pleasant  dreams!" 


The  facsimile  of  Mr.  Thomas's  signature  occurs  at  the 
end  of  the  preface  for  the  first  time  in  this  fiftieth  number. 

In  the  Almanac  for  1847,  after  announcing  the  death 
of  Mr.  Thomas,  the  editor  goes  on  to  say :  — 

Previous  to  Mr.  T.'s  death,  arrangements  were  made  with  the 
Publishers  of  the  Almanac,  for  its  continuance,  and  matter  for 
succeeding  numbers  having  been  furnished  us,  it  will  be  issued 


THE   MAN  AND    HIS   BOOK  23 

annually  as  heretofore,  and  we  hope,  with  the  assistance  and  en- 
couragement of  the  friends  of  the  work,  numerous  and  kind  as 
they  have  ever  been,  to  continue  the  Almanac,  (the  oldest  one  in 
the  country,)  through  the  present  century,  at  least.  Under  these 
circumstances,  and  from  respect  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  T.  who 
first  planned  the  Almanac,  and  has  edited  it  so  long,  and  whose 
name  is  associated  with  it  in  the  minds  of  the  friends  of  the  work, 
that  name  will  always  be  connected  with  it  in  future  as  in  past 
time. 

Accordingly,  the  words 

ESTABLISHED  IN  1793, 
BY  ROBERT  B.  THOMAS. 

have  appeared  on  every  title-page  since  the  death  of  the 
founder,  and  for  many  years  the  successive  prefaces  have 
closed  with  a  quotation  from  Mr.  Thomas  and  a  facsimile 
of  his  signature.  The  preface  for  the  first  number  of  the 
twentieth  century  sums  up,  briefly  and  forcibly,  the  long 
career  of  the  Almanac,  and  suggests  its  intimate  connec- 
tion with  the  life  of  our  country.  It  illustrates,  also,  the 
unity  of  purpose  which  has  governed  the  book  through 
more  than  a  hundred  years  and  which  may  be  ascribed,  in 
no  small  degree,  to  the  individuality  of  the  only  author 
whose  name  the  title-page  has  ever  borne :  - 

TO    PATRONS   AND    CORRESPONDENTS 

First  issued  for  the  year  1793,  The  Old  Farmer's  Almanac  has 
come  down  through  the  remaining  years  of  the  Eighteenth  Cen- 
tury, and  the  entire  Nineteenth  Century.  We  now  give  hearty 
greetings  to  our  readers  at  the  opening  of  the  Twentieth  Century. 

During  the  space  of  time  above  indicated,  a  period  unprece- 
dented in  human  progress,  whether  in  science,  in  exploration  and 
discovery,  in  invention,  in  the  growth  of  popular  government,  in 
the  spread  of  civilization,  or  in  the  divers  other  directions  of 
physical  and  mental  energy  and  effort,  we  have  kept  on  our  quiet 


24  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

way,  grateful  for  the  words  of  commendation  and  encouragement 
we  have  ever  and  anon  received  from  among  the  successive  gener- 
ations of  men  and  women  of  New  England  who  have  read  and 
studied  our  publication.  And  it  is  with  additional  pride  and 
gratification  that  we  reflect  how  prominent  has  been  the  part 
taken  by  these  same  men  and  women  of  New  England,  and  the 
descendants  of  many  of  them  living  in  other  regions,  in  the  stu- 
pendous measure  of  human  achievement  referred  to. 

Such  having  been  our  course,  we  are  led  to  believe  that  the 
results  of  our  efforts  have  not  been  without  merit.  And  it  is  from 
what  we  have  done  in  the  past,  and  because  of  the  character  of 
the  number  of  the  Almanac  we  now  present,  rather  than  from  any 
promises  we  might  make,  that  we  hope  for  your  continued  confi- 
dence and  support,  for 

"  It  is  by  our  works  and  not  by  our  words  we  would  be  judged  : 
these  we  hope  will  sustain  us  in  the  humble  though  proud  station 
we  have  so  long  held.1  .  .  . 

Rob'.  B.  Thomas." 

1  The  sentence  quoted  from  Mr.  Thomas  first  appears  in  the  Almanac  for 
1836,  where  it  is  preceded  by  the  quietly  humorous  phrase,  "Notwithstand- 
ing our  customary  professions." 


rns 


FARMER'S  ALMANACK. 

C  dculaitd  on  a.  ncta  and  improved 


1795 


Being  the  third  after  Leap  Year,  and   Nineteenth  of  the  Inde- 
pendence of  America. 
Fitted  to  t&e  t(nu»  ofBoJkm,  but  it>U!  fervt  for  anjf  of  tbt  aJJoiri*g  Stattt. 

Containing,  besides  the  large  number  of  Aftrcmomical 
Calculations,  and  Farmer's  CaHendar  for  every  month  ID  the 
year,  as  great  a-warietjr  as  any  other  Almanack,  of 

New,  Ufeful,  and  Entertaining  Matter. 

By    ROBERT    B.    THOMAS. 


"Hail,  Nature  '  fountain  iuexftauftnile  5 
Thy  »fing  iuid  decaying  fceoes:  as  Ivtavc o» 
With  hand  unerring,  turns  Che  fllenc  fphte 
Anclin  rotation  bring? the,  feafons- round. 4l 


EH1NTF,  r^    IN    flO  $7  ON, 

FOR  JOSEPH  BELKNAP.  No.8 
tnd  THOMAS  H  ALLr  m  State-Slreer.  Sold  by  them,  by 
the  Author  and  M.  Smith,  Stefliug,  and  by  the  EookfeUcra( 
2rici  yv>.  a  Grace, — Q*.  a,  Daxe 


THE   OLD   FARMER  AND    HIS   COR- 
RESPONDENTS 

MR.  THOMAS  is  never  more  entertaining  than  in 
his  replies  to  his  numerous  correspondents.    His 
Almanac  became    popular   so  rapidly  that,  al- 
most from  the  outset,  he  received  all  sorts  of  material  from 
interested  readers^  —  poems,  anecdotes,  and   puzzles,  ob- 
servations   on    agriculture,   jests,    riddles,     mathematical 
problems.     Agricultural    observations    were    particularly 
welcome.     In  the  preface  to  the  second  number  (1794), 
the  author,  in  stately,  old-fashioned  phrase,  invites  contri- 
butions of  this  kind  :  — 

My  precepts  and  observations  on  agriculture,  I  have  the  vanity 
to  believe,  have  been  approved  of  by  farmers  in  general.  Agri- 
culture affords  an  ample  field  in  this  country  for  the  ingenious  to 
expaciate  upon,  in  which  improvements  are  making  every  day ; 
and  as  my  greatest  ambition  is  to  make  myself  useful  to  the  com- 
munity in  this  way,  'tis  my  sincere  wish  that  men  of  experience 
and  observation  in  agriculture,  would  be  kind  enough  to  forward 
me  such  hints  towards  improvement,  as  are  capable  of  being  ren- 
dered serviceable  and  of  general  utility  to  the  public. 

And  again,  in  1795  :  — 

Experiments  in  Agriculture  ever  afford  me  the  greatest  degree 
of  pleasure  and  satisfaction ;  wherefore,  I  earnestly  repeat  my 
solicitations,  that  gentlemen  farmers,  who  have  leisure  and  genius 
for  making  experiments  in  husbandry,  would  be  kind  enough  to 
communicate  their  improvements  which  may  be  made  useful  to 


26  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

the  husbandman ;  in  doing  which,  they  will  not  only  receive  the 
grateful  acknowledgements,  but,  confer  the  greatest  favours  on  the 
Author  of  the  following  sheets. 

In  1796  Mr.  Thomas  met  with  a  disagreeable  experience, 
as  may  be  seen  from  a  passage  in  his  preface  for  the  next 
year:  "  It  is  with  much  regret,  that  the  Author  is  under 
the  necessity  to  apologize  for  the  admission  of  some  pieces 
of  entertainment  in  his  .last  year's  Almanack,  which  was 
owing  to  his  indulging  the  printer  in  that  peculiar  province, 
who  took  the  liberty  to  retrench  several  useful  matters  to 
make  room  for  a  '  Sermon  in  favour  of  thieving,'  and  sev- 
eral ludicrous  anecdotes,  which  were  highly  disgusting  to 
many  of  the  friends  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack,  and  for 
which  he  humbly  asks  forgiveness,  acquainting  them  at  the 
same  time,  that  those  pieces  were  unknown  to  him.  In 
future,  he  is  determined  to  make  all  the  arrangements 
himself."  From  this  time  he  scrutinized  the  lighter  pages 
of  his  annual  with  the  same  care  which  he  bestowed  on  the 
astronomical  computations. 

In  1 80 1  begins  the  series  of"  acknowledgments  to  cor- 
respondents," which  continued  without  a  break  for  many 
years.  The  author  is  brief  and  pointed,  — sometimes  his 
frankness  must  have  been  rather  startling ;  but  men  were 
much  in  the  habit  of  speaking  their  minds  in  those  days, 
and  Mr.  Thomas  had  a  touch  of  humor  which  deprived  his 
sharp  speech  of  much  of  its  wounding  potentiality.  The 
closing  words  of  the  preface  for  1801  embody  in  a  sum- 
mary form  much  that  was  to  come  in  detail,  addressed  to 
various  persons  in  subsequent  years  :  "  Several  favours  re- 
ceived are  deferred,  for  want  of  room ;  some,  it  is  necessary 
to  say,  for  want  of  merit." 

In  1807  there  is  a  very  outspoken  remark:  "  J.  P.  is 
thanked  for  his  good-will,  but  his  Anecdote  is  too  obscene 
for  admission."  In  1808  "  S.  D.  is  thanked  for  his  kind 


THE   OLD   FARMER   AND   HIS   CORRESPONDENTS        2/ 

intentions ;  but  his  riddle  is  not  sufficiently  enigmatical : 
besides,  it  has  been  often  published."  Another  correspond- 
ent in  the  same  year  appears  to  have  been  too  enigmatical : 
"  Margaret  Snufftaker's  hints,  are  unintelligible  and  futile." 
Originality  was  ever  a  desideratum,  and  S.  B.,  in  1809, 
seems  therefore  to  have  been  treated  with  much  considera- 
tion on  the  whole ;  his  "  communications,"  he  is  told,  "  were 
very  acceptable,  though,"  adds  Mr.  Thomas,  "  we  should 
have*  been  better  pleased  if  they  had  not  been  quite  so 
stale,  —  have  published  the  most  interesting."  T.  K.,  who 
is  noticed  in  1813,  must  have  been  what  we  should  now 
call  a  stimulating  or  suggestive  writer;  his  "  favours,"  we 
are  told,  "  though  crude,  are  always  acceptable,  as  they 
are  generally  capable  of  producing  much  sagacity."  This 
is  assuredly  high  praise ! 

When  contributors  expostulated  Mr.  Thomas  took  high 
ground :  "  J.  H.  seems  to  think  himself  unfortunate  — 
we  feel  to  commiserate  him,  but  we  must  claim  the  right 
to  judge  the  palm  "  (1822).  He  is  not  to  be  dictated  to, 
even  by  the  ladies :  "  Mrs.  H.  wishes  us  to  give  her  com- 
munication '  at  full  length' — we  really  think  a  miniature 
would  be  quite  as  creditable  to  her,  and  we  are  certain  it 
would  be  to  us"  (1827).  In  1830  "  our  friend  A.  B.  is 
thanked  for  his  contribution,  but  at  this  time  we  have  a 
superabundance  of  this  kind  of  ware." 

Very  rarely  the  full  names  of  correspondents  are  given, 
as  in  1837,  when  there  had  been  some  discussion  about  the 
correct  answer  to  a  problem :  "  Our  friend  Jerh.  Hallet 
of  Yarmouth,  contends  that  Mr.  O.  Norcross,  of  Belcher- 
town,  is  under  a  mistake  respecting  his  question,  as  in  our 
Almanack  for  1835,  and  wishes  us  to  insert  his  demonstra- 
tion. Not  having  room,  we  rather  prefer  the  gentlemen 
would  settle  it  between  themselves."  This  shows  how 
carefully  the  Almanac  was  read  and  how  entertaining  its 
patrons  found  it.  The  old  numbers  were  preserved,  and 


28  THE   OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

the  correspondents,  as  in  the  present  instance,  kept  run  of 
each  other  from  year  to  year.  The  whole  history  of  the 
Hallet-Norcross  imbroglio  covers  the  period  from  1835  to 
1838,  when  the  controversy  is  judicially  summed  up  by 
Mr.  Thomas :  "  Messrs.  Norcross  and  Hallet's  misunder- 
standing seems  to  be  in  Mr.  N.'s  misconception  of  the 
question." 

"  G.  H.,"  writes  the  editor  in  1837,  "  may  know  how  to 
manufacture  salt  —  but  we  perceive  he  is  no  astronomer,  or 
he  would  know  the  moon  is  not  the  only  agent  that  governs 
the  tides."  In  1843,  "  W.'s  puzzle  might  be  called  a  jumble 
—  we  confess  we  see  no  propriety  in  calling  it  a  puzzle." 
In  the  same  number  there  are  certain  "  Home  Questions 
for  the  New  Year,"  which,  though  not  a  part  of  the  Answers 
to  Correspondents,  stand  so  near  that  department  that  they 
may  come  in  here,  especially  as  they  are  worth  saving,  not 
only  for  their  common  sense,  but  because  they  show  the 
complete  identity  of  spirit  and  method  between  this,  the 
fifty-first  number  of  the  Almanac,  and  its  earliest  issues :  — 

Are  your  accounts  all  balanced  up  to  Jan.  i,  1843?  "Short 
settlements  make  long  friends."  Are  you  insured  against  fire? 
Did  you  look  to  the  cellar,  the  roofs  of  your  house  and  barn,  and 
the  wood-pile,  and  to  putting  away  your  ploughs  and  other  utensils 
before  winter  set  in?  Your  children,  of  course,  go  to  meeting 
and  to  school  regularly  !  Do  you  take  a  well-conducted  news- 
paper? Have  you  made  your  will?  settled  all  misunderstandings 
with  neighbors?  and  do  you  avoid  endorsing?  The  Scriptures, 
you  know,  say  "  Leave  off  contention  before  it  be  meddled  with," 
and  also,  "  He  that  hateth  suretyship  is  sure  !  " 

The  volunteer  poets  gave  Mr.  Thomas  a  good  deal  of 
bother,  and  when  to  the  offence  of  doggerel,  anonymity 
was  added,  the  long-suffering  editor  felt  under  no  obliga- 
tion to  be  mealy-mouthed.  Thus  in  1810  he  relieved  his 
mind  in  the  following  epigram :  "  Lines  on  inebriety,  have 


THE   OLD   FARMER  AND    HIS   CORRESPONDENTS        29 

not  sufficient  spirit  to  preserve  them  even  one  year,  nor  cor- 
rectness to  entitle  them  to  more  than  one  perusal  —  the 
author  has  credit  for  one  thing  only,  they  are  without  a 
name."  Toward  juvenile  talent  Mr.  Thomas  is  more  tender- 
hearted :  "T.  L.,"we  learn  in  1811,  "  displays  some  genius 
at  poetry,  but  if  we  are  not  much  mistaken,  they  are  youth- 
ful effusions,  which  riper  years  might  bring  to  maturity." 
Incorrectness  and  lack  of  polish  are  frequent  subjects  of 
complaint.  Thus,  in  1812,  "  A  Riddle  by  J.  D.  wants  many 
corrections ;  the  author  might  be  better  employed  behind 
the  counter,  than  making  riddles,"-— a  critical  snub  which 
reminds  one  of  Lockhart's  sending  Keats  "  back  to  the 
shop."  In  the  same  year  we  hear  of  one  "  C.  C."  appar- 
ently a  local  Dr.  Johnson :  "  The  Midnight  Ghost,  is  too 
incorrect  to  appear  in  print.  We  advise  the  author  to 
hand  it  to  his  townsman  C.  C.  after  which  it  will  appear." 
Another  rebuke  to  youthful  bumptiousness  is  tempered 
with  Olympian  praise  :  "  Our  young  friend,  who  conceives 
himself '  behind  the  curtain,'  has  given  himself  abundance 
of  airs,  which,  in  some  instances,  partake  of  impertinence 
and  vanity  —  however,  as  they  are  conceived  to  be  the 
effusions  of  a  juvenile  fancy,  they  are  easily  pardoned. 
His  poetry  is  far  above  mediocrity  for  one  of  his  years  — 
his  prose  is  wrote  with  care,  and  he  displays  no  small  de- 
gree of  mathematical  knowledge.  We  think,  however,  his 
riddle  is  not  entirely  original"  (1813).  One  would  like 
to  see  the  packet  which  this  Gifted  Hopkins  had  sent  to 
the  philosopher  of  West  Boylston.  Anyhow  he  was  not 
satisfied,  and  returned  to  the  charge  the  next  year;  but 
Mr.  Thomas  is  placid  :  "  Our  young  correspondent  X  Y 
and  Z  seems  to  indulge  a  propensity  for  which  he  had  our 
pardon  last  year. — Does  he  think  we  shall  put  up  with 
insolence  without  notice?  We  confess,  there  are  instances 
where  it  is  the  greatest  wisdom.  We  are  ever  desirous  to 
encourage  the  efforts  of  youthful  genius,  as  far  as  our  limits 


3O       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

will  admit  —  his  poetry  to  head  the  Calendar  pages  is  de- 
cent, and  would  have  been  inserted  this  year  if  we  had  not 
been  under  prior  claims." 

It  is  good  to  know  that  the  object  of  these  strictures  was 
not  beyond  repentance.  In  1819  Mr.  Thomas  receives 
him  into  favor  with  frank  cordiality :  "  We  were  much 
pleased  at  hearing  again  from  our  young  friend  X.  Y.  Z. 
and  especially  to  experience  his  reformation  of  manners, 
if  we  may  so  express  it  —  he  has  our  well  wishes  and 
hearty  forgiveness  —  With  his  other  favours,  we  have  to 
acknowledge  the  receipt  of  a  Bank-bill,  of  which,  sixty- 
two  cents  is  placed  to  his  credit  in  advance.  —  His  future 
Correspondence  is  respectfully  solicited."  It  is  impossible 
not  to  recognize  the  quiet  humor  of  the  last  sentence.  It 
is  like  the  waggish  variation  on  the  editorial  formula : 
"  All  communications  must  be  accompanied  by  a  five- 
dollar  bill,  not  necessarily  for  publication,  but  as  a 
guaranty  of  good  faith."  Sometimes,  indeed,  a  wrong- 
headed  or  sensitive  contributor  got  the  notion  that  money 
would  secure  the  admission  of  poems  or  riddles  to  the 
columns  of  the  Almanac.  One  of  these,  a  lady,  is  gently 
set  right  in  1835:  "Our  friend  Adelaide  is  mistaken  in 
supposing,  '  a  necessary  accompaniment,'  was  a  pecuniary 
requisition  —  it  had  reference  to  a  solution  of  a  query, 
which  is  always  requisite  to  secure  an  insertion.  —  If  any 
innovations,  in  her  last,  she  will  be  pleased  to  point  them 
out,  — we  confess  we  have  not  discovered  them." 

Mr.  Seaman,  the  satirist,  in  addressing  the  present  poet- 
laureate,  remarks,  speaking  of  a  poem  which  Mr.  Austin 
had  recently  published,  — 

The  editor  avers  it  is  a  sonnet : 

I  wish  to  make  a  few  remarks  upon  it. 

Similarly  affected  was  Mr.  Thomas  by  a  corrrmunication 
which  he  acknowledges  in  1815:  "  C.  E.  has  favoured 


THE   OLD   FARMER  AND   HIS   CORRESPONDENTS        31 

us  with  some  lines  which  he  is  pleased  to  call  '  a  Riddle,' 
we  confess  they  are  neat  and  pretty;  but  we  think  an. 
epitaph  would  be  equally  as  appropriate." 

In  1817  Mr.  Thomas's  memory  saved  him  from  becom- 
ing the  victim  of  a  mortifying  imposition.  His  rebuke  to 
the  plagiarist  is  gentle  enough,  when  the  circumstances 
are  considered,  particularly  since  the  "Thomas' Almanack" 
to  which  reference  is  made  was  that  of  Isaiah  Thomas,  to 
which  the  Old  Farmer  had  been  for  years  a  successful 
rival :  "  S.  F's  Riddle  will  not  answer  our  purpose  for 
several  reasons,  one  is,  its  obviousness,  others  we  forbear 
to  give,  as  they  might  wound  his  feelings.  —  We  are  sorry 
our  friend  should  have  such  an  itching  for  writing  Riddles. 
—  We  should  be  culpable  in  publishing  many  poetical 
communications,  which  could  only  be  interesting  to  their 
writers  —  '  Stanzas,  to  head  the  Calendar  Pages,'  he  might 
have  saved  himself  the  trouble  of  transcribing,  by  referring 
us  to  Thomas'  Almanack  for  1789. — The  anecdote  not 
original,  nor  even  new." 

"  Hydrometrynareari s  Poetry,  is  too  much  allied  to  his 
name,  to  be  useful  to  us,"  is  a  comment  of  1818.  Another, 
in  the  same  year,  is  still  more  crushing,  but  it  was  appar- 
ently addressed  to  an  anonymous  offender:  "We  have 
received  a  large  packet  with  Northfield  post  mark,  pur- 
porting to  be  poetry,  &c.  The  author  may  have  it  again 
by  sending  to  the  Editors."  Praise  and  censure  are  judi- 
ciously commingled  in  1821:  "  P.  N.  R's  Picture,  though 
of  the  doggerel  species,  is  not  a  bad  likeness.  —  If  he  will 
take  the  trouble  to  point  his  lines  and  correct  the  orthog- 
raphy, and  favour  us  with  a  copy,  it  shall  embellish  our 
next  No."  The  poet  was  complaisant,  and  filed  his  verses. 
They  appear,  according  to  promise,  in  "  our  next  No.," 
and  here  they  are,  for  the  edification  of  his  grand- 
children :  — 


32  THE   OLD    FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

PICTURE  OF  A  DRUNKARD. 
(Communicated.) 

His  eyes  are  red,  a  confus'd  head, 

And  face  of  crimson  die  ; 
His  coat  in  slits,  and  patch'd  with  writs, 

The  execution  nigh. 

His  hat  much  worn,  his  jacket  torn, 

And  pantaloons  the  same; 
An  empty  purse,  and  what  is  worse, 

That  rum  is  all  his  game. 

His  limbs  are  lame,  tottering  with  pain, 

His  vital  power  decay, 
His  body  thin,  immers'd  in  sin, 

While  rum  bears  all  the  sway. 

His  note  alas,  goes  for  the  glass, 

And  everything  he  's  got  ; 
But  the  last  cent,  will  soon  be  spent, 

And  he  a  drunken  sot. 

His  house  once  good,  tho'  made  with  wood, 

Does  now  begin  to  go  ; 
His  barn  all  rack'd  —  while  boards  it  lacks, 

Amidst  the  drifting  snow. 

His  wife  once  bright,  his  heart's  delight, 

Is  faded  and  forlorn  ; 
His  farming  lot,  is  quite  forgot, 
And  he  a  nuisance  grown. 

P.  N.  R. 
N.  H.  Feb.  1821. 

Now  and  then  Mr.  Thomas  suggests  that  verses  of  a 
certain  length  are  best  suited  to  the  width  of  his  columns, 
though  he  does  not  insist  that  the  poet  shall  always  do 
homage  to  the  typographer.  In  1831  "  O.  C.  is  sincerely 
thanked  for  his  ingenious  Enigma :  we  should  have  been 
better  pleased  if  the  lines  had  contained  less  syllables, 


THE   OLD   FARMER  AND   HIS   CORRESPONDENTS        33 

eight  is  the  utmost  we  are  able  to  get  into  a  line  —  have 
reserved  it  for  our  next." 

In  1837  S.  H.  C.  is  informed  that  his  "  Riddle  appears 
rather  lame  —  in  fact,  it  is  any  thing  but  poetry."  A 
similar  criticism  is  passed  in  1838:  "  Mrs.  S.  B.'s  Riddle  is 
any  thing  but  poetry  —  abounding  in  unhappy  metaphors. 
—  Hope  she  will  excuse  us  —  though  not  possessed  of 
youthful  gallantry,  we  should  be  very  sorry  to  be  thought 
wanting  in  politeness  to  the  ladies  !  "  To  appreciate  this, 
we  must  know  that  it  appears  on  the  same  page  with  a 
woodcut  of  the  author,  then  seventy-two  years  of  age,  with 
his  hair  tied  in  a  queue,  —  the  same  portrait  that  is  repro- 
duced on  page  16  of  this  book.  No  doubt  Mrs.  S.  B. 
forgave  him. 

A  charmingly  courteous  remark,  which  must  have  grati- 
fied the  person  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  unless  he  was 
fully  acquainted  with  Mr.  Thomas's  humorous  wrinkles,  ap- 
pears in  1840:  "  J.  W.  D.  is  pleased  to  favor  us  with  his 
poetical  effusions,  for  which  he  is  entitled  to  the  editor's 
grateful  acknowledgements."  The  recipients  of  donative 
volumes  of  minor  poetry  might  do  worse  than  to  have  these 
golden  words  engraved  in  facsimile  of  their  handwriting; 
editors,  too,  might  copy  them,  and  give  up  the  familiar 
"  declined  with  thanks."  For  anything  more  delightfully 
restrained  we  must  go  to  Artemus  Ward,  who,  when 
a  stranger  remarked  that  it  was  a  fine  day,  replied 
"  Middling,"  not  wishing  to  commit  himself. 

Postage  was  always  a  sore  point  in  the  old  days.  It 
might  be  either  prepaid  or  collected  on  delivery,  and  un- 
lucky recipients  of  long-winded  epistles  or  other  useless 
matter  often  had  a  substantial  grievance.  Mr.  Thomas's 
first  allusion  to  the  subject  (in  1806)  is  appended  to  a 
compliment  which  he  pays  to  a  highly  respected  Quaker 
correspondent:  — "Friend  R.  D.  is  tendered  the  Editor's 
best  thanks,  for  his  several  valuable  communications,  at  the 

3 


34       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

same  time,  solicits  a  continuance  of  his  correspondence. 
The  postage  the  Editor  will  ever  be  happy  in  paying, 
though  in  some  is  a  great  looser."  One  of  the  losing  cases 
appears  in  1809:  "A.  R.  Q.  is  thanked  for  his  seasonable 
information.  —  Though  we  would  remind  him  that  his  com- 
munications came  so  coated  np  that  we  are  obliged  to  pay 
double  postage  on  them,  we  would  advise  him  in  future 
to  leave  off  the  wrapper  or  pay  the  postage''  Again,  in 
1810:  "  E.  W.  and  others  will  be  kind  enough  to  pay 
postage  on  answers  to  Riddles  in  future,  or  they  will  not 
be  noticed."  In  181  1  :  "  G.  S.  our  Boston  querist  —  have 
no  objection  to  his  asking  questions  everyday  in  the  year, 
provided  he  pays  the  postage  —  he  will  find  an  answer  to 
his  queries,  without  a  fee,  at  No.  75,  Cornhill,"  the  book- 
shop of  John  West,  who  published  the  Almanac  from 
1797  to  1820.  E.  F.,  in  1812,  appears  as  a  sinner  against 
several  principles:  his  "anecdote  is  of  the  coarser  kind, 
and  not  capable  of  being  polished  without  injuring  the 
pith.  His  Meteorological  observations,  if  correctly  taken, 
would  be  useful.  He  will  do  well  to  remember  the  postage 
in  future."  By  1814  the  postage  nuisance  seems  to  have 
become  intolerable.  Not  only  is  "  J.  H.  jr."  informed  that 
"  we  conceive  his  Questions  ,to  be  unimportant,  and  not 
worth  the  money  we  paid  for  them,"  but  there  is  an  em- 
phatic pronunciamento  to  the  world  at  large:  — 


No  notice  will  in  future  be  taken  of  any  answer  to  queries, 
unless  post  paid. 

Even  this  was  ineffectual,  for,  in  1824,  "  B.  B's  Riddle 
we  think  is  rather  a  dear  one,  containing  only  eight  short 
lines,  and  to  be  taxed  eighteen  cents  and  a  quarter  -  We 
will  repeat  what  we  have  said  once  and  again,  that  no 
question  will  be  noticed  unless  accompanied  with  a  com- 
plete answer,  or  demonstration,  post  paid''  Finally,  in  1832, 
Mr.  Thomas  is  able  to  reply  to  a  contributor  who  "  is 


THE   OLD   FARMER   AND   HIS    CORRESPONDENTS        35 

at  a  loss  why  his  '  communications  are  not  noticed  '  "  that 
"  this  is  rather  unaccountable,  when  we  have  given  notice, 
not  less  than  ten  different  times,  '  that  no  notice  will  be 
taken  of  any  Query,  &c.,  unless  a  solution  accompany  it, 
Post  Paid:  " 

Nobody  worries  about  postage  to-day,  and,  though  we 
all  know  that  it  cost  more  to  send  letters  in  old  times, 
few  of  us  have  the  details  in  mind.  They  were  complicated 
and  must  have  been  pretty  vexatious.  The  Almanac 
furnishes  all  necessary  information  on  the  subject.  Thus 
in  1798  we  have  this  table :  — 

Rate  of  POSTAGE  of  every  single  Letter  by  land. 

MILES.  CENTS. 

30          6 

60  8 

IOO  IO 

15°  I2i 

For  every  single  letter  j  200  15 

250  17 

350  20 

,450  22 

For  more  than    450  25 

No  allowance  is  to  be  made  for  intermediate  miles.  Every 
double  letter  is  to  pay  double  the  said  rates ;  every  triple  letter, 
triple  ;  every  packet  weighing  one  ounce,  at  the  rate  of  four 
single  letters  for  each  ounce. 

In  1800  there  is  a  different  table,  and  the  postage  on 
short  distances  is  increased :  — 

RATES   OF   LETTER   POSTAGE. 

EVERY  Letter  composed  of  a  piece 
of  paper,  conveyed  not  exceeding     40  miles,         8  cents. 

Over  40  miles,  and  not  exceeding  90  10 

Over    90  do 150  12^ 

Over  150  do 300  17 

Over  300  do 500  20 

Over  500  do 25 


36       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Every  Letter  composed  of  two  pieces  of  paper,  double  those 
rates. 

Every  Letter  composed  of  three  pieces  of  paper,  triple  those 
rates. 

Every  Letter  composed  of  four  pieces  of  paper,  and  weighing 
one  ounce,  quadruple  those  rates ;  and  at  the  rate  of  four  single 
letters  for  each  ounce  any  letter  or  packet  may  weigh. 

Until  1816,  this  table,  with  a  few  changes,  is  printed 
nearly  every  year;  in  1816,  however,  the  rates  take  a 
considerable  jump :  — 

RATE  OF  POSTAGE  OF  EVERY  SINGLE  LETTER  BY  LAND. 

Miles.  Cents.  Miles.  Cents. 

40                                12  300  25^ 

90                                15  500  30 

150  i8|  For  more  than  500  37^ 

No  allowance  is  to  be  made  for  intermediate  miles.  Every 
double  letter  is  to  pay  double  the  said  rates ;  every  triple  letter, 
triple ;  every  packet  weighing  one  ounce,  at  the  rate  of  four 
single  letters  for  each  ounce. —  Every  ship  letter  originally  received 
at  an  office  for  delivery  9  cents.  Magazines  and  pamphlets,  not 
over  50  miles  i  1-2  ct.  per  sheet. —  Over  50  miles,  and  not 
exceeding  100  do.  2  1—4  cts. — Over  100  do.  3  cts. 

In  1817  the  minimum  rate  settles  back  to  six  cents 
for  thirty  miles,  which  continued  till  July  I,  1845,  when 
a  new  law  went  into  effect,  fixing  the  rate  at  five  cents 
for  three  hundred  miles,  the  weight  not  to  exceed  half 
an  ounce.  Single  postage  was  added  for  each  additional 
half  ounce  or  fraction  thereof.  The  other  provisions  of 
the  new  law  need  not  detain  us.  An  abstract  was  furnished 
by  the  Almanac  for  1846.  The  three-cent  rate  was  adopted 
in  1851  for  any  distance  under  three  thousand  miles,  —  for 
more  than  that  distance  six  cents  was  charged.  In  1863 
three  cents  became  the  rate  without  regard  to  distance, 
and  in  1883  two  cents.  The  maximum  weight  for  a  single 


THE   OLD    FARMER   AND   HIS   CORRESPONDENTS        37 

postage  was  increased  to  one  ounce  in  1885.  The  history 
of  American  postage  from  1793  may  be  followed  in  the 
successive  issues  of  the  Almanac. 

Here,  as  well  as  anywhere,  may  be  appended  a  table 
which  contains  many  novelties  for  the  schoolboy  of  to- 
day, but  which  all  New  Englanders  of  forty  will  recognize 
as  embodying  much  information  once  vitally  necessary 
in  making  change.  It  is  taken  from  the  Almanac  for 
1797:- 

The  Value  of  the  several  Pieces  of  Silver  Coin  now  in  Circulation 
in  the  United  States,  in  Federal  Currency. 

Cents.  Mills. 

One  fourth  of  a  Pistareen  or  half  Dime      .         5  o 

Four  pence  halfpenny     .......         6  2\ 

Half  Pistareen,  or  Dime 10  o 

Nine  pence  piece,  or  \  of  a  Dollar     ...       12  5 

Pistareen  or  two  Dimes 20  o 

Quarter  of  a  Dollar 25  o 

Half  a  Dollar 50  o 

Dollar 100  o 

Half  a  Crown,  French 55  o 

Half  a  Crown,  English 55  5 

Crown,  French no  o 

Crown,  English 1 1 1  o 

10  MILLS  are      i  CENT. 

10  CENTS  —        i  DIME,  or  DISME. 

10  DIMES  —        i  DOLLAR. 

10  DOLLARS  —  i  EAGLE. 

Similar  tables,  and  others  more  complicated,  appear 
in  the  Almanac  for  many  years.  In  particular  there  is  the 
regular  schedule  of  the  values  of  the  shilling  in  various 
parts  of  the  country.  Instead  of  reprinting  it,  we  may 
quote  a  passage  from  the  autobiography  of  Lieutenant 
John  Harriott,  an  English  half-pay  officer,  who  knew 
America  well :  — 


38       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

The  various  currencies  of  money,  in  the  different  states,  are 
troublesome  and  harassing  even  to  the  natives  of  the  United 
States,  and  still  more  so  to  strangers.  A  dollar,  in  sterling  money, 
is  four  shillings  and  six  pence ;  but,  in  the  New-England  states, 
the  currency  is  six  shillings  to  a  dollar ;  in  New- York,  eight  shil- 
lings ;  in  New-Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  and  Maryland,  seven  shillings 
and  six  pence  ;  in  Virginia,  six  shillings  ;  in  North  Carolina,  eight 
shillings ;  and,  in  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  four  shillings  and 
eight  pence.  All  agree  that  the  evil  is  great  and  wants  to  be 
remedied ;  but  they  say,  such  is  the  prejudice  of  the  country- 
people  in  the  different  states  in  favour  of  the  currency  they  have 
always  been  accustomed  to,  that  it  is  feared,  were  an  act  of  congress 
passed  to  enforce  a  general  uniform  currency,  the  country-people 
would  consider  it  as  bad  as  they  formerly  did  the  stamp-act.  To 
this,  I  have  frequently  taken  the  liberty  of  observing,  to  several 
members  of  congress  and  others,  that,  if  an  act  were  passed  for 
no  book-debt,  bond,  note,  bill,  &c.  to  be  admitted  as  evidence  in 
their  courts  of  law,  except  such  as  were  kept  or  made  in  dollars 
and  cents,  (which  all  the  public  offices  and  banks  already  do,) 
the  evil  would  soon  be  removed  without  other  coercion  than  that 
of  self-interest.1 

Most  of  us  can  remember  when  the  shilling  of  i6|  cents, 
the  ninepence,  two  and  thrippence,  fo'pence  ha'penny,  and 
two  shillings  were  terms  constantly  used  in  making  small 
trades.  To  the  rising  generation  these  terms  have  merely 
an  historical  significance. 

1  Struggles  through  Life,  London,  1807,  II,  29-30. 


ASTROLOGY 

FROM  the  outset  Mr.  Thomas  kept  his  Almanac  free 
from  astrology.  This  was  not  so  hard  to  do  in  1793 
as  it  would  have  been  seventy-five  years  earlier,  but 
it  was  nevertheless  a  sufficiently  creditable  feat.  The  false 
science  of  the  stars  is  so  nearly  obsolete  nowadays  among 
intelligent  people  that  one  finds  it  hard  to  realize  what  a 
hold  it  had  upon  the  popular  mind  in  the  eighteenth 
century  and  even  later.  But  an  example  or  two  will  con- 
duct us  back  to  an  age  when  the  stars  in  their  courses 
were  regarded  as  potent  in  all  human  affairs,  and  we  may 
well  be  surprised  to  see  how  short,  both  in  time  and  in 
space,  is  the  journey  that  we  have  to  go. 

About  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  it  was 
customary,  in  some  parts  of  New  England,  to  employ  an 
astrologer  to  cast  a  horoscope  in  order  to  determine  the 
exact  day  and  hour  at  which  a  vessel  should  weigh  anchor 
for  an  important  voyage.  This  seems  to  have  been  partic- 
ularly common  in  the  case  of  slavers,  perhaps  on  account 
of  the  great  possibilities  of  profit  and  the  peculiar  risks 
which  their  traffic  involved.  Mr.  George  C.  Mason,  of  New- 
port, whose  extremely  interesting  account  of  the  colonial 
slave-trade J  gives  a  multitude  of  details  drawn  from  origi- 
nal business  papers,  had  "  seen  hundreds  of  these  horo- 
scopes "  and  prints  a  facsimile  of  one  dated  August  22, 
1752,  and  prepared  for  a  voyage  to  the  Guinea  coast. 

1  The  African  Slave  Trade  in  Colonial  Times,  in  The  American  Histori- 
cal Record,  1872,  I,  311-19,  338-45. 


40       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

He  appends  an  extract  from  an  astrologer's  letter  to  a 
Newport  merchant  referring  to  a  more  rigorous  computa- 
tion of  the  moon's  place  than  was  to  be  found  in  the 
current  almanacs,  for  which  the  cunning  man  professes  a 
dignified  contempt.  A  marginal  note,  doubtless  from  the 
hand  of  the  shipmaster,  on  one  of  these  horoscopes,  re- 
marks that  "  6  D.  &  h  [i.  e.  the  sixth  day  and  hour]  always 
wins  the  profits,"  which  seems  to  point  to  some  personal 
superstition  on  the  captain's  part,  derived  perhaps  from 
his  experience  in  lucky  and  unlucky  seafaring.  Sailors 
are  proverbially  superstitious  (and  no  wonder),  but  without 
much  evidence  one  would  scarcely  have  believed  that  our 
hard-headed  New  England  forefathers  on  the  coast  were 
at  all  addicted  to  the  elaborate  trifling  which  the  practice 
of  so  abstruse  a  science  as  astrology  involves. 

There  is  a  casual  reference  to  the  same  subject  in  the 
Diary  of  President  Stiles,  of  Yale  College,  where,  under 
date  of  June  13,  1773,  he  mentions,  as  lately  dead,  "  Mr. 
Stafford  of  Tiverton,"  who  "  was  wont  to  tell  where  lost 
things  might  be  found,  and  what  day,  hour  and  minute 
was  fortunate  for  vessels  to  sail."  1 

Poor  Robin's  Almanack  for  1690  contained  a  burlesque 
horoscope,  which  the  author  called  "  the  ass-trological 
scheme."  A  comparison  with  that  drawn  up  for  the  New- 
port shipmaster  will  show  that  it  was  not  a  bad  parody. 
"  By  this  Scheme,"  adds  the  jocose  author,  "  a  man  may 
foretel  things  that  never  will  be,  as  well  as  those  that  never 
were ;  and  is  as  proper  for  an  Almanack  as  a  Nose  for  a 
mans  Face :  for  as  a  Face  looks  ill  favouredly  without  a 
Nose,  so  doth  an  Almanack  without  a  Scheme." 

Astrology  turns  up  now  and  then  in  the  theses  discussed 
by  candidates  for  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  at  Harvard 
College,  and  that  too  at  a  comparatively  late  date.  Thus 
in  1762  it  was  decided  that  "the  heavenly  bodies  produce 

1  Literary  Diary  of  Ezra  Stiles,  ed.  Dexter,  I,  386. 


HOROSCOPE.  FOR  A  GUINEA  VOYAGE 


ASTROLOGY  4! 

changes  in  the  bodies  of  animals."  Perhaps  this  may  not 
be  regarded  as  genuine  astrology,  but  no  one  can  doubt 
the  nature  of  the  following  question,  which  was  negatived 
in  1728: — "Do  medicinal  herbs  operate  by  planetary 
power?  "  In  1694  it  was  decided  that  "  divinations  by  the 


MOCK  HOROSCOPE 
(From  Poor  Robin's  Almanack  for  1690) 

planets  are  not  justifiable."  Two  questions  must  not  be 
mistaken  as  astrological :  "  Will  a  comet  be  the  cause  of 
the  world's  final  conflagration?"  (settled  affirmatively  in 
1759)  and  "  Is  a  comet  which  only  appears  after  many  years 
more  a  foreshadowing  of  divine  wrath  than  a  planet  which 
rises  daily?"  (negatived  in  I77O).1 


Proc.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  XVIII,  123  ff. 


42  THE   OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

An  irrefutable  proof  that  the  whimsicalities  of  astrology, 
palmistry,  and  physiognomy  were  not  unknown  among 
the  country  people  in  New  England  at  the  beginning 
of  the  nineteenth  century  is  found  in  the  circulation 
of  the  so-called  Book  of  Knowledge.  This  curious  man- 
ual purported  to  be  written  by  "  Erra  Pater,  a  Jew 
Doctor  in  Astronomy  and  Physic,  born  in  Bethany,  near 
Mount  Olivet  in  Judea,"  and  to  have  been  "made  Eng- 
lish" by  W.  Lilly,  the  famous  astrologer.  I  have  ex- 
amined an  undated  edition  with  the  imprint  "  Worcester, 
Printed  by  Isaiah  Thomas,  Jun.,"  and  another  printed 
at  Suffield  by  Edward  Gray,  in  1799.  The  title-page, 
after  the  old  fashion,  furnishes  one  with  a  pretty  complete 
table  of  contents.  The  little  book,  which  was  meant  to  be 
hawked  about  the  country  by  book-peddlers,  is  said  to 
treat  of  "  the  Wisdom  of  the  Ancients  "  in  four  parts.  The 
first  part  shows  "  the  various  and  wonderful  Opperations  of 
the  Signs  and  Planets,  and  other  celestial  Constellations,  on 
the  Bodies  of  Men,  &c."  The  second  gives  "  Prognostications 
for  ever  necessary  to  keep  the  Body  in  Health  ;  with  several 
choice  Receipts  in  Physic  and  Surgery."  The  third  is  an 
"  Abstract  of  the  Art  of  Physiognomy  and  Palmistry, 
together  with  the  Signification  of  Moles,  and  the  Interpre- 
tation of  Dreams,  &c."  The  fourth  is  "  The  Farmer's  Cal- 
endar, containing,  1st.  Perpetual  Prognostications  for 
Weather.  2d.  The  whole  Mystery  of  Husbandry.  3d. 
The  complete  and  experienced  Farrier  and  Cowleech,  &c." 
Among  the  miscellaneous  matter  are  a  number  of  forms  for 
bills,  bonds,  indentures,  deeds,  bills  of  exchange,  and  the 
like  —  as  in  the  "  Every  Man  his  own  Lawyer  "  of  our  own 
day.  All  this  in  a  little  book  of  less  than  a  hundred  and 
twenty  pages.  Truly  the  buyer  got  a  good  deal  for  his 
shilling ! 

The  astrology  is  of  the  simplest  and  most  popular  kind. 
The  main  definitions  are  given,  and  the  familiar  elementary 


ASTROLOGY  43 

principles  of  nativities.  Thus  we  learn  that  "  the  sun  being 
in  Virgo,  makes  the  men  [born  at  that  time]  fortunate  and 
successful  in  household  affairs,  wise  and  fruitful,  stout  and 
ambitious :  his  wife  shall  die  suddenly  in  his  absence ;  he 
shall  have  many  things  stolen  from  him,  but  shall  be  re- 
venged on  his  enemies.  He  shall  be  so  much  given  to  talk, 
that  he  cannot  keep  his  own  secrets.  —  It  also  shews  one 
fair-faced,  of  a  genteel  behaviour,  a  lover  of  women,  and 
delightful  to  be  in  the  courts  of  princes  and  noblemen," 
and  so  on.  "  If  the  native  be  a  maiden,  she  will  be  witty, 
honest,  and  modest ;  of  a  willing  mind,  diligent  and  circum- 
spect; and  shall  be  married  about  the  age  of  fifteen  years." 
This  last  remark  comes  in  with  unconscious  humor  in  close 
connection  with  the  "  willing  mind  "  just  referred  to. 

The  precepts  of  physiognomy  are  amusing,  and  some  of 
them  are  still  familiar  in  folk-lore  or  proverbial  saying.  "A 
large  head  shows  a  person  stupid  and  of  a  dull  apprehen- 
sion, also  a  very  small  head  signifies  the  same."  This  re- 
minds one  of  the  nursery  rhyme :  — 

Great  head,  little  wit ; 
Small  head,  not  a  bit. 

Outworn  wisdom  frequently  takes  refuge  in  the  adages  of 
the  nursery.  More  startling  are  the  remarks  that  "  a  fat 
face  shews  a  man  to  be  a  liar,  and  foolish,"  "  a  long  slender 
neck  shews  a  man  to  be  a  coward,"  and  "  slender  legs  de- 
note ignorance." 

Almanacs  were  of  course  astrological  from  the  beginning. 
They  existed  largely  for  the  purpose  of  designating  the 
days  and  hours  upon  which  the  particular  influence  of  this 
or  that  planet  would  be  operative.  Let  us  take  an  instance 
from  the  "Monthly  Observations,"  for  March,  1700,  in 
Partridge's  almanac  for  that  year.1 

1  Merlinus  Liberatus,  published  by  the  Company  of  Stationers. 


44  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

i  Last  Quarter,  the   first   day,  at  noon. 
2 

3  The  General  Affairs  of  Europe  begin 

4  to  move  and  look  with  an  angry  face; 

5  yet  I  do  not  think  things  are  yet    ripe 

6  for    Action,    or    fit    for    what    they    are 

7  design'd.     Yet  a  little  while  and  you  '11 

8  see. 

9  New    )  9  day,  3  ho.  53  min.  afternoon. 

10  If    his    Majesty   of  Poland  was   born, 

11  as  some  say,  Apr.  27.  or,  as  others,  May 

12  the  2d.  1670;  he  is  like  to  have  a  very 

13  troublesome  year  of  this,  and  that  from 

14  the    lay  Transit   of  Mars  through  Scor- 

15  pio    all    this    Summer,    and    some    other 

1 6  First  Q.  16  day,  49  min.  past  n  at  night. 

17  things.     There    is    a    Fire    kindling    in 

1 8  those  Northern  parts,  I  hope  to  a  good 

19  purpose. 

20  Mars   hath    lately   been    in    Trine    to 

21  the    Sun,    and    now   running    Retrograde 

22  in  a  fixed   Sign.     The   Souldiery  of  Na- 

23  Full  •  23  day,  20  min.  past  5  at  night. 

24  tions    may    sleep    a   while,    but    I    think 

25  not     long,     perhaps    this    Century    may 

26  end   first;    and    perhaps   not,   if  Nostra- 

27  dame  says  true. 
28 

29 

30  Last  Q  31  day,  35  min.  past  6  morning. 

3i 

Partridge  and  Gadbury  were  the  best  known  almanac- 
makers  of  their  day.  They  were  equally  popular  in  their 
lifetime,  but  in  posthumous  reputation  Partridge  has 
distanced  his  rival.  He  owes  his  immortality  not  so  much 

to  his  own  performances  as  to  the  satire  of  Swift.     The 


ASTROLOGY  45 

affair  is  one  of  the  most  celebrated  episodes  in  Queen 
Anne  literature,  but,  familiar  as  it  is,  it  can  hardly  be 
passed  by  without  a  word.  In  1707  Swift  published,  under 
the  name  of  Isaac  Bickerstaff,  Esq.,  "  Predictions  for  the 
Year  1708,  Wherein  the  Month  and  the  Day  of  the  Month 
are  set  down,  the  Persons  named,  and  the  great  Actions  and 
Events  of  next  Year  particularly  related,  as  they  will  come 
to  pass.  Written  to  prevent  the  People  of  England  from 
being  further  imposed  on  by  vulgar  Almanack  Makers." 
The  writer  professed  to  be  a  scientific  astrologer  and 
ridiculed  Partridge  and  his  fellows  as  ignorant  pretenders 
to  the  art.  The  first  of  his  predictions  is  the  most  famous, 
and,  indeed,  it  is  the  gist  of  the  whole  satire.  With 
splendid  audacity  he  actually  specified  the  day  and  the 
hour  when,  as  he  foretold,  Partridge  was  to  die :  — 

My  first  Prediction  is  but  a  trifle ;  yet  I  will  mention  it,  to 
show  how  ignorant  those  sottish  pretenders  to  Astrology  are  in 
their  own  concerns :  it  relates  to  PARTRIDGE  the  Almanack 
maker;  I  have  consulted  the  star  of  his  nativity  by  my  own 
rules;  and  find  he  will  infallibly  die  upon  the  29th  of  March 
next,  about  eleven  at  night,  of  a  raging  fever ;  therefore  I  advise 
him  to  consider  of  it,  and  settle  his  affairs  in  time. 

This  prediction  Swift  followed  up  in  a  second  paper, 
purporting  to  be  a  letter  to  a  lord  from  a  revenue  officer 
and  to  describe  the  accomplishment  of  Bickerstaff 's  pre- 
diction. Here  an  account  was  given  of  Partridge's  last 
moments  and  of  his  repentance  for  the  injuries  he  had 
done  and  the  frauds  he  had  perpetrated.  "  I  am  a  poor 
ignorant  fellow,"  he  exclaims  to  the  person  who  makes 
the  report,  "  bred  to  a  mean  trade ;  yet  I  have  sense 
enough  to  know  that  all  pretences  of  foretelling  by 
Astrology  are  deceits."  And  he  adds,  sighing,  "  I  wish 
I  may  not  have  done  more  mischief  by  my  physic,  than 
by  astrology !  although  I  had  some  good  receipts  from 


46  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

my  grandmother,  and  my  own  compositions  were  such 
as  I  thought  could,  at  least,  do  no  hurt." 

Partridge  of  course  protested  furiously  in  his  almanac 
for  1709.  But  Swift  took  advantage  of  his  anger  to  write 
still  another  paper,  in  which  he  proved  that  Partridge  must 
undoubtedly  be  dead,  as  he  had  predicted. 

Literary  historians  have  probably  exaggerated  the  effect 
of  Swift's  satires.  They  may  have  had  some  influence 
with  educated  people,  who  were  only  too  much  given 
to  relying  on  astrological  predictions,  but  they  did  not 
change  the  character  of  the  popular  almanacs  in  England. 
Throughout  the  eighteenth  century  and  well  into  the 
nineteenth  these  continued  to  go  on  in  their  old  course, 
though,  as  we  have  seen,  the  principal  almanac  of  New 
England  contemned  such  fooleries. 

Partridge's  and  Gadbury's  almanacs  continued  to  be 
published,  with  no  essential  change  in  their  character, 
long  after  the  death  of  their  founders.  The  Company 
of  Stationers,  who  owned  the  copyrights,  were  unwilling 
to  suppress  them  or  to  modify  their  contents,  for  the  sales 
were  enormous  and  the  populace  was  wedded  to  its  idols. 
In  1827  the  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Christian  Knowl- 
edge took  a  hand  in  the  matter  by  publishing  the  first 
number  of  the  British  Almanac  (for  1828).  This  was  a 
direct  challenge  to  the  Stationers.  In  a  preface  the 
editors  attack  the  two  most  popular  almanacs  of  the 
day,  Moore's  and  Partridge's,  for  their  charlatanry. 
The  object  of  the  new  publication  was  to  educate  the 
public  taste  and  intelligence.  The  British  Almanac  was 
successful  at  the  very  outset,  and  it  is  still  issued.  At 
first  the  price  was  two  shillings  and  threepence,  for  there 
was  a  stamp  duty  of  fifteen  pence  on  every  almanac  — 
a  tax  which  brought  in  more  than  thirty  thousand  pounds 
a  year.  In  1835,  when  the  duty  had  been  abolished,  the 
size  of  the  book  was  increased  and  the  price  was  put  down 


ASTROLOGY  47 

to  a  shilling.  The  effect  of  respectable  competition  was 
marked.  The  Stationers  changed  the  character  of  their 
almanacs,  and  Moore's,  which  is  still  published,  is  no 
longer  a  monument  to  ancient  delusions.  With  the  issue 
of  1870  the  British  Almanac  itself  passed  into  the  hands  of 
the  Stationers'  Company. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  astrological  almanacs  no 
longer  circulate  in  England.  There  are  two  rival  publica- 
tions which  are  as  absurd  as  anything  that  the  dark  ages 
could  produce,  —  Zadkiel's  and  Raphael's. 

Both  Zadkiel  and  Raphael  take  pride,  from  year  to 
year,  in  pointing  out  what  they  call  the  fulfilment  of  their 
predictions.  Since  these  works  are  not  much  known  in 
this  country,  the  reader  may  be  diverted  by  an  extract 
from  Zadkiel's  Almanac  for  1903,  designated  as  the 
"  seventy-third  yearly  edition."  It  will  be  observed  that 
there  is  much  vagueness  in  the  predictions  and  consider- 
able license  of  interpretation  in  the  fulfilment. 

FULFILLED    PREDICTIONS. 

END   OF   THE   WAR    IN    SOUTH   AFRICA. 

Predictions.  Fulfilment. 

"The  SUN  shines  once  again          In  the  spring  quarter  of  1902, 

on  Old  England  after  the  storms  the  negotiations  for  peace  were 

and   tempests  of   the   last  two  begun  in  April,  and  the  submis- 

years."  sion  of  the  Boers  was  made  on 

"Q  in  T. —  We  shall  se-  the3ist  of  May,  when  the  Treaty 
cure  peace  by  showing  our  ene-  was  signed  by  the  five  Boer 
mies  that  we  are  prepared  for  leaders  at  10.30  p.m.,  at  Pre- 
war." toria;  just  before  Jupiter  be- 

"  Should  peace  be  preserved,  came    stationary   in    Aquarius 

as  it  should  be  if  only  our  Gov-  17°   15'  in  the  mid-heaven  of 

ernment  be  resolute  as  well  as  the  horoscope  of  London, 
clever  in  diplomacy,  our  foreign 
trade  will   increase."  —  Alma- 
nac, 1902,  pp.  5,  n,  56. 


48 


THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 


THE   CORONATION. 


Predictions. 

"SUN  enters  Cancer,  June 
22nd.  — At  London,  Venus  is 
culminating.  The  elevation  of 
Venus  is  of  happy  omen  for 
the  Monarch,  and  promises  a 
splendid  Coronation  attended 
with  great  martial  pomp,  and 
public  rejoicing  in  earnest."  — 
Almanac,  190*2,  p.  59. 

"  The  23rd  of  June  brings  a 
crisis."  —  Ibid.,  p.  21. 

"  Mars  in  the  ascendant  of 
London,  in  opposition  to  Ura- 
nus. I  trust  that  no  serious 
accident  will  mar  the  public 
festivities  at  the  opening  of  this 
month"  (July).  —  Ibid.^.  23. 


Fulfilment. 

The  Coronation  took  place 
in  the  summer  quarter,  as  fore- 
told, viz.,  on  the  9th  of  August, 
having  been  postponed  from 
the  2 6th  of  June,  owing  to  the 
alarming  illness  of  the  King. 
In  the  Abbey  the  splendour  of 
the  scene  was  magnificent.  The 
public  rejoicing  at  His  Majesty's 
recovery  was  indeed  earnest  and 
heartfelt. 

On  the  23rd  of  June  the  King 
became  seriously  ill,  and  the 
operation  was  performed  on  the 
following  day  —  when  it  was 
announced  that  the  Coronation 
was  postponed,  to  the  conster- 
nation of  the  people  of  the  em- 
pire. This  most  unfortunate 
accident  marred  the  brilliant 
festivities  planned  and  begun 
for  the  end  of  June  and  the 
beginning  of  July. 


There  was  of  course  much  ridicule  of  astrological  and 
other  prophecies.  Thus  Rabelais,  in  his  Pantagrueline 
Prognostication :  - 

No  matter  what  these  crazy  astrologers  of  Louvain  and  Nurem- 
berg and  Tubingen  and  Lyons  tell  you,  do  not  believe  that  in  this 
year  there  will  be  any  other  governor  of  the  universe  than  God  the 
creator. 


This  year  the  blind  will  see  only  a  very  little  ;  the  deaf  will  not 
hear  very  well ;  the  dumb  will  not  have  much  to  say ;  the  rich 


ASTROLOGY  49 

will  fare  rather  better  than  the  poor  and  the  well  than  the  sick ; 
several  sheep,  oxen,  pigs,  birds,  chickens,  and  geese  will  die.1 

In  1697,  Poor  Robin's  Almanack,  in  deliberate  burlesque 
and  with  an  express  reference  to  Rabelais,  makes  certain 
salutary  suggestions  for  January:  - 

This  Month  is  the  best  of  all  the  twelve  (saith  the  ingenious 
Rabelais}  to  pick  the  lock  of  a  Cup-board,  to  steal  a  bottle  of 
wine  out  of  it.  But  yet  Reader,  if  thou  hast  money,  let  me  ad- 
vise thee  rather  to  go  to  the  Tavern,  call  for  a  quart  of  Canary, 
and  wish  Poor  Robin  some  part  of  it,  to  heat  hi[m]  within  this  cold 
Weather ;  but  above  all,  let  Scholars  have  a  great  care  of  drink- 
ing the  best  Wine,  for  of  good  Wine  they  cannot  make  bad  Latin. 
The  Weather  being  so  cold,  hot  broths  in  a  morning  are  very  com- 
fortable :  Pope  Alexander  by  the  advice  of  a  Jew  his  Physician 
did  so,  and  lived  till  his  dying  day,  in  despight  of  all  his  enemies. 

In  the  same  year  Poor  Robin  characterizes  December, 
with  a  hit  at  the  decline  of  old-fashioned  hospitality :  - 

This  Month  will  be  more  Employment  for  Cooks  and  Fiddlers, 
than  for  Reapers  and  Haymakers ;  but  how  if  there  should  be 
more  Cooks  than  there  will  be  Employment  for  'em ;  truly,  as 
the  Stars  seem  posited,  it  is  a  thing  very  much  to  be  fear'd  :  And 
the  Phisicians  do  assure  us  that  very  few  poor  Men  this  Chrismas 
will  get  Surfeits  by  over-eating  'emselves  at  rich  Mens  Tables,  and 
the  reason  thereof  is,  because  my  Lady  Pride  hath  turn'd  good 
Houskeeping  out  of  doors  ;  instead  of  a  Cook,  a  Butler,  a  Groom, 
a  Huntsman ;  and  a  2  or  3  brace  of  neat-handed  serving-Men, 
maintaining  a  Butterfly  Page,  a  stiff  swearing  Coach-man,  and  a 
tawdry  Skip-kennel,  pulling  down  the  Larder,  locking  the  Buttry 
door,  and  reducing  the  Kitchin  to  the  bigness  of  a  Cobler's  Stall. 
A  blessed  Reformation. 

A  middle  ground  is  occupied  by  Woodward's  almanac 
for  1690,  which,  though  it  cannot  deny  the  influence  of  the 

1  Chaps,  i  and  3. 
4 


50       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

stars  in  their  courses,  is  inclined  to  think  that  free-born 
Englishmen  are  less  subjected  to  them  than  foreigners :  — 

SAPIENS   DOMINABITUR   ASTRIS. 

Altho  the  Stars  have  an  Influence  on  all  Persons  and  things 
sublunary,  yet  as  we  are  Englishmen  and  Christians,  let  us  live  so 
after  the  Dictates  of  the  Divine  Will,  that  the  Stars  may  have  no 
Power  over  us,  as  to  Evil ;  for  they  only  incline,  not  compel. 
Besides,  we  inhabit  a  Land  that  flows  with  Milk  and  Honey,  are 
govern'd  by  a  glorious  Monarch  and  his  Consort  of  our  own  Re- 
ligion, have  the  blessed  Gospel  florishing  more  than  in  any  King- 
dom of  Europe,  just  Laws  to  punish  Offenders  ;  wherefore  if  we 
live  not  in  Tranquillity  or  Union  one  with  another,  can  we  expect 
anything  but  the  great  Indignation  of  Heaven,  by  provoking 
God's  severe  Displeasure  against  us  for  our  Treachery  and  back- 
sliding—  ?  But  Thanks  be  to  God  we  have  a  prospect  of  so 
well-settled  a  Government,  that  Popish  Contrivers  shall  not  have 
Power  to  alter  for  the  future.1 

Mr.  Thomas,  as  we  have  seen,  was  no  astrologer.  But 
he  was  a  humorist,  and  now  and  then  he  uses  the  formulas 
of  the  star-gazing  prophets  to  good  purpose,  as  in  the  fol- 
lowing note  from  the  Calendar  for  October,  1803  :  — 

Now  is  an  excellent  time  for  old  bachelors  to  visit  old  maids, 
as  the  sun  is  in  Libra,  which  promises  a  balance  of  affection  to  the 
wedded  pair. 

February,  being  a  short  month,  afforded  room  for  such 
jocose  remarks  at  the  foot  of  the  column  of  days,  par- 
ticularly when  leap-year  came  round.  Thus,  in  1804,  we 
read  :  — 

It  is  hoped  that  old  maids  and  bachelors  will  enjoy  much  satis- 
faction this  year. 

1  Daniel  Woodward,  Ephemeris  Absoluta,  London,  1690. 


ASTROLOGY  51 

In  1808  the  same  hope  is  expressed,  but  with  a  good 
deal  more  confidence:  — 

It  is  expected  that  the  hearts  of  bachelors  and  old  maids  will 
beat  in  unison  this  year. 

More  satirical  are  the  verses  appended  to  the  same  month 
in  1809:  - 

Thy  changing  weather  like  a  modish  wife, 
Thy  winds  and  rains  forever  at  a  strife  ; 
So  Termagant,  awhile  her  thunder  tries, 
And  when  she  can  no  longer  scold  —  she  cries. 

In  1810  we  are  brought  back  to  the  domain  of  sentiment 
in  a  reminiscence  of  a  pretty  passage  in  Virgil's  eclogue :  - 

The  bashful  lover  sues  in  vain 
The  favours  of  the  fair  to  gain  ; 
She  flies,  yet  flying  hopes  the  swain 
Quickly  her  footsteps  will  detain. 

In  1 8 12,  which  is  leap-year,  we  have  another  jest  about 
those  who  have  postponed  marriage  beyond  their  first 
youth:  — 

There  will  be  this  year  many  conjunctions  and  fewer  oppositions 
than  usual,  between  bachelors  and  old  maids. 

This  pleasant  method  of  filling  up  the  February  column 
was  followed  for  a  good  many  years.  A  few  more  speci- 
mens may  be  given  :  — 

Ye  lasses  be  prudent  and  wise, 

Nor  listen  to  Neddy's  false  voice  ; 
A  happiness  pure  if  ye  prize, 

Let  merit  alone  claim  your  choice.     (1821.) 


52       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 


TO  MARRIED  LADIES. 

Whatever  is  your  lot  in  life, 

Be  still  the  good  and  loving  wife  ; 

Content  with  little,  meek  with  riches, 

But  let  the  Husband wear  the  breeches.     (1823.) 

A  SENTIMENT.  —  "  The  married  and  single.  Wives,  as  they 
are — maids,  as  they  would  be  —  bachelors,  as  they  should  be." 
(1828.) 

PREDICTIONS. 

He  who  marries  this  year  will  run  a  great  risk  —  that  is,  if  he 
does  it  in  a  hurry  —  of  finding  the  angel  of  light  to  be  one  of 
darkness.  (1832.) 

LEAP-YEAR. 

Tradition  this  year  doth  report, 

That  maidens  are  allowed  to  court.     (1836.) 

A  PREDICTION. 

Much  this  year  will  be  done 

That  many  will  wish  undone.     (1840.) 

Bachelors  and  maids,  don't  despair, 

Time  has  brought  about  leap  year.     (1844.) 

This  is  truly  a  rough-hewn  couplet  and  it  comes  near 
marking  the  close  of  an  epoch,  for  in  1846  the  practice 
in  question  was  abandoned  and  the  column  was  filled  by 
lengthening  the  last  few  lines  of  the  Farmer's  Calendar. 


THE   MAN   OF   THE   SIGNS 

ONE  of  the  notable  things  about  the  Farmer's  Alma- 
nack is  that,  from  the  very  beginning,  it  has  ex- 
cluded from  its  pages  the  picturesque  image  known 
as  the  Man  of  the  Signs,  or  the  Moon's  Man. 

The  figure  of  a  man,  surrounded  by  the  twelve  Signs  of 
the  Zodiac,  each  referred  to  some  part  of  his  body  by 
means  of  a  connecting  line  or  a  pointing  dagger,  is  still 
seen  in  some  almanacs  and  was  once  regarded  as  indispen- 
sable. The  Anatomy,  as  it  was  often  called,  was  a  graphic 
representation,  intelligible  alike  to  the  educated  and  to 
those  who  could  not  read,  of  a  vitally  important  principle 
in  medicine  and  surgery.  Each  sign  of  the  zodiac  "  gov- 
erned "  an  organ  or  part  of  the  body,  and,  in  selecting  a 
day  to  treat  any  ailment,  or  to  let  blood,  it  was  necessary 
to  know  whether  the  moon  was  or  was  not  in  that  sign. 
In  the  language  of  the  Kalender  of  Shepherdes,  as  pub- 
lished by  Pynson  in  1506,  "  a  man  ought  not  to  make 
incysyon  ne  touche  with  yren  ye  membre  gouerned  of  any 
sygne  the  day  that  the  mone  is  in  it  for  fere  of  to  grete  effu- 
syon  of  blode  that  myght  happen,  ne  in  lykewyse  also 
when  the  sonne  is  in  it,  for  the  daunger  &  peryll  that 
myght  ensue."  Pynson's  Kalender  of  Shepherdes  is  some- 
thing more  than  its  name  implies.  It  is  a  rather  large  com- 
pendium, affording  not  only  all  manner  of  astronomical 
and  astrological  lore,  but  information  on  health,  religion, 
physiognomy,  and  pastoral  life.  It  was  originally  written 
in  French,  and  the  oldest  known  edition  (though  not,  ap- 
parently, the  first)  appeared  at  Paris  in  1493.  It  was  im- 


54       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

mensely  popular.  There  were  no  less  than  twenty  other 
editions  in  French  before  1600,  not  to  speak  of  those 
printed  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries. 
There  were  two  distinct  translations  into  English,  and 
numerous  editions.1  The  work,  then,  was  authoritative, 
and  we  may  accept  its  precepts  without  hesitation  as 
giving  a  correct  idea  of  what  men  believed. 

The  Kalender  of  Shepherdes  is  not  content  with  one 
illustration  of  the  dominion  of  the  planets.  Besides  that 
just  mentioned  there  are  two  more,  —  another  body  and  a 
skeleton.  The  body  is  intended  to  exhibit  the  position 
of  the  veins,  and  is  accompanied  by  directions  for  bleed- 
ing. The  skeleton  is  encircled  by  the  planets,  each  with  a 
label  and  a  line  or  ribbon  attaching  it  to  the  central  figure. 
Thus  over  the  man's  head  is  the  Sun,  with  a  label  "  Sol 
the  heart"  and  a  ribbon  attaching  the  sun  to  that  place  in 
the  skeleton  where  the  heart  would  be.  The  sun,  we  are 
to  understand,  "  hath  myght  and  domynacyon  "  over  the 
heart. 

Most  almanacs,  however,  are  satisfied  with  a  single 
figure  —  that  of  the  man  surrounded  by  the  zodiacal  beasts 
—  the  Homo  Signorum  or  "Man  of  the  Signs."  Who 
invented  the  figure  is  a  question.  The  conjecture  of 
Halliwell 2  that  it  originated  with  Petrus  de  Dacia,  a  Danish 
astronomer  and  mathematician  who  was  Rector  of  the 
University  of  Paris  in  1326,  is  apparently  without  founda- 
tion ; 3  Peter  compiled  tables  for  determining  the  moon's 
place,  but  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  an  artist.  The 
Moon's  Man  is  common  in  manuscript  calendars  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  may  be  considerably  older.  There 

1  See  the  edition  by  H.  Oskar  Sommer,  London,  1892,  Critical  Intro- 
duction. 

2  Essay   on    Early  Almanacs,  in    Companion   to   the    British   Almanac 
for  1839,  p.  56. 

3  See  G.  Enestrom,  Swedish  Academy,  Stockholm,  Ofversigt  af  Forhand- 
lingar,  1885,  No.  3,  pp.  15  ff.,  No.  8,  pp.  65  ff;  1886,  No.  5,  pp.  57  ff. 


THE   MAN   OF  THE   SIGNS  55 

is  a  succinct  statement  of  the  doctrine  of  which  the  Homo 
Signorum  is  merely  a  pictorial  representation  in  the  famous 
astronomical  poem  of  Manilius,  which  dates  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Christian  era,  and  the  Roman  poet  was  of 
course  merely  borrowing  from  earlier  Greek  sources. 

Accipe  divisas  hominis  per  sidera  partes, 
Singulaque  in  propriis  parentia  membra  figuris, 
In  quis  praecipuas  toto  de  corpore  vires 
Exercent.     Aries  caput  est  ante  omnia  princeps 
Sortitus,  censusque  sui  pulcherrima  colla 
Taurus,  et  in  Gemini's  aequali  brachia  sorte 
Scribuntur  connexa  humeris,  pectusque  locatum 
Sub  Cancro  est,  laterum  regnum  scapulaeque  Leonis  ; 
Virginis  in  propriam  descendunt  ilia  sortem  ; 
Libra  regit  clunes,  et  Scorpios  inguine  gaudet; 
Centauro  femina  accedunt,  Capricornus  utrisque 
Imperat  et  genibus,  crurum  fundentis  Aquari 
Arbitrium  est,  Piscesque  pedum  sibi  iura  reposcunt.1 

These  verses  are  translated  in  hexameters  which  have 
escaped  the  notice  of  all  students  of  English  metre,  in  "  A 
New  Almanacke  and  Prognostication,  for  the  yeare  of  our 
Lord  God  1628.  By  Daniel  Browne,  wilier2  to  the  Mathe- 
matickes,  and  teacher  of  Arithmeticke,  and  Geometry:  " 


fate  Aries,  nccfte  anB  tfyroate  Taurus  topfjolHetrj, 
3To  Gemini  tl)'  artnes,  to  Cancer  brest  stomadte  anB  lungess  : 
&s  Leo  milts  ttye  backe  anB  fyeart,  so  Virgo  Beligfjtctfj 
Cn  guts  anil  bellg  :  retgncs  anB  lognts  Libra.  rctatnetlj. 
Scorpio  tfyt  secrets  anB  blaBBer  efyallengett)  :  of 
©nig  Sagitarius  th.e  gouwnour  is  :  Capricornus 
SHje  ftnees  as  subtects  Bat!}  gttiB,  but  Aquarius 
Qlty  legs  :  anB  Pisces  maintaine  \ty  feet  to  be  tfyetr  rigijt. 

Through  Ptolemy,  the  Alexandrian  astronomer  of  the 
second  century  after  Christ,  the  doctrine  came  down  to 
the  middle  ages  and  so  to  modern  times.  Thus  we  find 

1  Marcus  Manilius,  Astronomica,  ii,  453  ff. 

2  Misprint  for  -well-wilier. 


56  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

it  in  Chaucer's  treatise  on  the  Astrolabe,  which  he  wrote 
as  an  elementary  text-book  of  astronomy  for  his  little  son 
Lowys  (or  Lewis) :  "  Everich  of  thise  twelve  signes  hath 
respect  to  a  certein  parcelle  of  the  body  of  a  man,  and 
hath  it  in  governance ;  as  Aries  hath  thyn  heved,  and 
Taurus  thy  nekke  and  thy  throte,  Gemini  thyn  armholes 
and  thyn  armes,  and  so  forth." l  Chaucer  says  nothing 
of  the  Anatomy,  the  Man  of  the  Signs,  but  it  was  well 
known  in  his  day,  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  would  have 
described  it  fully  if  he  had  not  left  his  book  unfinished. 

As  time  went  on,  the  theory  of  a  close  relation  between 
man's  body  and  the  signs  of  the  zodiac  fell  into  disrepute, 
and  the  Anatomy  became  a  laughing  stock.  In  1609 
Thomas  Dekker,  the  dramatist  and  pamphleteer,  pub- 
lished a  burlesque  called  The  Ravens  Almanacke,  to 
which,  according  to  custom,  he  prefixed  the  figure  of  the 
Homo  Signorum,  with  the  usual  title  "  The  Dominion  of 
the  Moone  in  Mans  body."  This  is  his  humorous  com- 
ment: "At  the  beginning  of  euerie  Almanacke,  it  is  the 
fashion  to  haue  the  body  of  a  man  drawne  as  you  see, 
and  not  onely  baited,  but  bitten  and  shot  at  by  wilde 
beasts  and  monsters."  The  image,  he  says,  is  called  "  the 
Man  of  the  Moone,  or  the  Moones  Man,  or  the  Man  to 
whom  the  Moone  is  mistris."  2  Dekker's  jest,  oddly  enough, 
was  revived  by  Josh  Billings,  who  can  hardly  have  been 
aware  of  its  previous  vogue,  in  his  comic  publication  the 
Old  Farmer's  Allminax,  which  appeared  for  the  first 
time  in  1870:  — 

SIGHNS  OV  THE  ZODIAK. 

The  undersighned  iz  an  Amerikan  brave,  in  hiz  grate  tragick 
akt  ov  being  attaked  bi  the  twelve  constellashuns.  —  (May  the 
best  man  win.) 

1  Part  i,  §  21 ;  Skeat's  Oxford  Edition,  III,  187. 

2  The  Non-Dramatic  Works  of  Thomas  Dekker,  ed.  Grosart,  IV,  179-80. 


THE   MAN   OF  THE   SIGNS  57 

Then  follows  the  figure,  with  an  indescribably  droll  par- 
ody on  the  regular  directions  for  its  use :  — 


KEY  TEW  THE  ABUV   PERFORMANCE. 

Tew  kno  exakly  whare  the  sighn  iz,  multiply  the  day  ov  the 
month  hi  the  sighn,  then  find  a  dividend  that  will  go  into  a 
divider  four  times  without  enny  remains,  subtrakt  this  from  the 
sighn,  add  the  fust  quoshunt  tew  the  last  divider,  then  multiply 
the  whole  ov  the  man's  boddy  bi  all  the  sighns,  and  the  result 
will  be  jist  what  yu  are  looking  after. 

In  1657  Bishop  Bramhall  makes  an  ingenious  applica- 
tion of  the  Anatomy  in  his  controversy  with  Hobbes  the 
philosopher.  He  is  arguing  for  free  will  and  objects  to 
Hobbes's  theory  of  necessity  on  the  ground  that  it  lowers 
the  dignity  of  human  nature:  — 

T.  H.  maketh  him  [man]  to  be  in  the  disposition  of  the 
second  causes  :  sometimes  as  a  sword  in  a  man's  hand,  a  mere 
passive  instrument ;  sometimes  like  "  a  top,  that  is  lashed " 
hither  and  thither  "by  boys  "  ;  sometimes  like  "  a  football,"  which 
is  kicked  hither  and  thither  by  every  one  that  comes  nigh  it.  ... 
Surely  this  is  not  that  man  that  was  created  by  God  after  His 
own  image,  to  be  the  governor  of  the  world,  and  lord  and 
master  of  the  creatures.  This  is  some  man  that  he  hath  borrowed 
out  of  the  beginning  of  an  almanac,  who  is  placed  immovable  in 
the  midst  of  the  twelve  signs,  as  so  many  second  causes.  If 
he  offer  to  stir,  Aries  is  over  his  head  ready  to  push  him,  and 
Taurus  to  gore  him  in  the  neck,  and  Leo  to  tear  out  his  heart, 
and  Sagittarius  to  shoot  an  arrow  in  his  thighs.1 

The  almanac-makers  of  the  seventeenth  century  were 
sorely  perplexed  about  the  "  misshaped  anatomy,"  as  the 

1  Castigations  of  Mr.  Ilobbes  his  last  Animadversions,  Works,  Oxford, 
1844,  IV,  417. 


58       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

poet  Cleveland  called  it.1  None  of  them  put  any  con- 
fidence in  it,  but  all  of  them  wanted  to  sell  their  books, 
and  the  people  clamored  for  the  time-honored  monstrosity. 
Now  and  then  we  find  a  versified  apology.  Thus  Edward 
Pond,  in  1633,  admitted  that  he  had  inserted  the  caricature 
for  business  purposes  only :  — 

THE  ANATOMIE. 

Should  I  but  dare  t'  omit  the  Anatomie, 
Which  long  enough  hath  gul'd  my  country  friend, 
He  with  contempt  would  straight  refuse  to  buy 
This  book,  and  't  is  no  Almanack  contend. 
Ask  him  its  use,  he  'le  say  he  cannot  tell ; 
No  more  can  I :  yet  since  he  loves  't  so  well, 
I  'le  let  it  stand,  because  my  Book  should  sell.2 

Poor  Robin's  Almanack  for  1697  is  equally  frank  and 
more  humorous :  - 

Here  is  presented  to  your  Eye 

The  Figure  of  th'  Anatomy, 

For  where  that  this  Gue-Gaw  doth  lack, 

Some  will  not  buy  that  Almanack  : 

Then  stand  here  that  my  Book  may  sell, 

Though  for  what  Use  we  cannot  tell. 

The  same  embarrassment  was  felt  by  astronomers  in 
America.  Samuel  Clough,  in  the  New  England  Almanack 
for  1703,  expressed  himself  with  more  vigor  than  metrical 
correctness :  - 

The  Anatomy  must  still  be  in 

Else  th'  A  hnanack 's  not  worth  a  pin  : 

For  Country-men  regard  the  Sign 

As  though  'T  were  Oracle  Divine. 

But  do  not  mind  that  altogether, 

Have  some  respect  to  Wind  and  Weather. 

1  "  All  other  forms  seem  in  respect  to  thee 
The  almanack's  misshaped  anatomy." 

(The  Hetacomb,  verses  89-90.) 

2  See  S.  Briggs,  The  Essays,  Humor  and  Poems  of  Nathaniel  Ames, 
Cleveland,  1891,  p.  61. 


THE   MAN   OF  THE   SIGNS  59 

Here  the  reader  is  warned  not  to  trust  the  oracle  too 
much.  So  in  Poor  Will's  Almanack  for  I797,1  we  have 
"  The  Anatomy  of  Man's  Body,  as  said  to  be  governed  by 
the  Twelve  Constellations,"  with  the  conventional  rule  for 
its  interpretation  and  use ;  but  there  follows  immediately  a 
caveat  in  solemn  prose  against  taking  it  too  seriously. 

Dr.  Nathaniel  Ames,  of  Dedham,  ignored  the  Anatomy 
in  the  first  two  numbers  of  his  Almanac  (1726-28),  and 
this  is  the  more  noteworthy  since  he  was,  at  the  outset, 
avowedly  astrologistic.  In  his  first  issue  he  speaks  of  an 
eclipse  of  the  moon  in  terms  that  remind  us  of  Edmund  in 
King  Lear:  "This  Eclipse  of  the  Moon  happens  so  near 
the  Great  Benevolent  Jupiter,  the  Effects  't  is  hop'd  will  not 
be  ill."  And  in  that  for  1728  he  is  still  more  outspoken :  — 

OF   THE    ECLIPSES   THIS   YEAR,    1728. 

The  first  of  these  Eclipses  (moon)  is  Celebrated  in  6  de- 
grees of  Virgo,  the  second  Sign  of  the  earthy  Triplicity,  which 
(authors  say)  portends  the  Scarcity  of  Fruit  and  Corn. 

The  second  of  these  Eclipses,  viz  :  That  of  the  Sun  on  the 
28th  of  February  happens  in  20  degrees  of  Pisces,  the  House 
of  Jupiter,  and  Exaltation  of  Venus :  learned  Authors  affirm, 
when  Jupiter  bears  Rule,  and  is  Lord  of  an  Eclipse  (as  in  this 
he  is)  he  signifies  Glory,  Fertility,  Tranquillity,  Peace  and 
Plenty ;  and  such  as  are  signified  by  Jupiter,  especially  Ecclesias- 
tical Persons  do  flourish  and  live  in  great  Estimation.  The  Laws 
are  well  Executed,  and  many  Upright  and  Just  Judges  are  very 
Active  for  the  Publick  Good  ;  new  Customs  or  Privileges,  new 
Corporations,  new  Honours,  &c.,  are  now  most  happily  conferr'd 
upon  People  in  general ;  And  these  are  the  Natural  Portends  of 
Jupiter  when  he  bears  Rule  in  an  Eclipse. 

Astrologer  though  he  was,  Ames  hoped  to  avoid  the 
absurdity  of  perpetuating  the  Homo  Signorum.  But  in 

1  Philadelphia  :  Printed  for  and  Sold  by  Joseph  Crukshank. 


60       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

1729  he  yielded,  rather  reluctantly,  to  the  pressure  of 
public  opinion,  and  inserted  the  image.  His  reluctance  — 
his  feeling  that  this  was  a  superstitious  ornament,  un- 
worthy of  the  serious  attention  of  a  "  student  in  physick 
and  astronomy,"  —  is  evinced  by  the  roughhewn  verses  that 
accompany  the  picture :  — 

The  Blackmoor  may  as  eas'ly  change  his  Skin, 
As  Men  forsake  the  ways  they  'r  brought  up  in ; 
Therefore  I  've  set  the  Old  Anatomy, 
Hoping  to  please  my  Country  men  thereby, 
But  where  's  the  Man  that  's  born  &  lives  among, 
Can  please  a  Fickle  throng  ?  1 

Ames's  figure  is  excessively  ugly,  but  not  original. 
He  had  it  from  his  predecessor,  the  almanac  "  printed  and 
sold  by  B.  Green  and  J.  Allen  in  Boston,"  appearing  as 
Clough's  New-England  Almanack  in  1703,  afterwards  edited 
by  Thomas  Robie,  Daniel  Travis,  and  others. 

The  hithering  and  thithering  of  New  England  almanacs 
with  regard  to  the  Man  of  the  Signs  is  excessively  curious. 
In  Isaiah  Thomas's  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  Rhode- 
Island,  New-Hampshire  and  Vermont  Almanack  for  1782, 
there  is  an  elaborate  Anatomy.  Yet  this  is  a  somewhat 
rationalistic  number  after  all.  It  contains  a  skeptical  Es- 
say on  Conjuration  and  Witchcraft,  in  which,  after  speak- 
ing of  various  wonders  of  the  invisible  world,  the  author 
remarks :  "  We  are  not  to  believe  such  reports,  unless  the 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  the  fact  be  equal  to  the  strangeness 
of  the  thing."  In  1783  the  Anatomy  appears  again,  but  in 
1784  it  is  omitted,  with  the  note  "  The  Anatomy  of  Man's 
body,  &c.  inserted  last  year."  In  1785  we  find  the  figure; 
but  not  in  1786  or  1788.  In  1789,  1790,  and  1791  it  re- 
appears in  much  handsomer  form.  In  1792  it  is  omitted. 
And  so  on.  After  1800  there  seems  to  have  been  a  reac- 

1  See  Briggs,  as  above,  pp.  47,  57,  60. 


THE   MAN   OF  THE   SIGNS  6 1 

tion  in  favor  of  the  Anatomy.  It  appears,  with  only  one 
break,  from  1801  to  1807.  About  this  time  some  almanacs 
actually  gave  the  mystic  figure  a  place  of  honor  on  the 
combined  cover  and  title-page ;  so  Smith  and  Forman's 
New- York  and  New- Jersey  Almanac  for  1809  and  1810. 

No  wonder  the  people  were  attached  to  the  Anatomy. 
It  was  not  merely  a  fetich,  though  there  was  a  touch  of 
fetichism  in  the  reverence  paid  it.  It  was  a  graphic  sum- 
ming up  of  the  whole  doctrine  of  astrological  medicine. 
And  medicine,  for  many  centuries,  had  been  permeated 
with  astrology,  both  in  theory  and  practice.  Chaucer's 
physician  in  the  Canterbury  Tales  always  selected  a  "for- 
tunate ascendant"  in  treating  his  patients,  —  that  is,  he 
observed  the  condition  of  the  heavens,  constructed  a 
horoscope,  and  acted  accordingly.  Otherwise  his  ministra- 
tions might  do  more  harm  than  good.  Paracelsus  declared, 
we  are  told,  that  no  physician  ought  to  write  a  prescription 
without  consulting  the  stars.  The  science  of  one  age 
becomes  the  superstition  of  the  next,  but  what  the  Anatomy 
typified  remained  the  doctrine  of  the  learned  for  centu- 
ries, and  when  at  last  it  sank  to  the  position  of  a  "  vulgar 
error"  it  retained  its  hold  with  a  tenacity  proportionate 
not  only  to  its  antiquity  but  to  the  high  authority  which 
it  had  so  long  enjoyed.  It  is  much  to  Mr.  Thomas's 
credit  that  he  steadfastly  refused  to  countenance  a  prev- 
alent superstition  by  admitting  this  time-honored  effigy 
into  his  Almanac. 


ARTISTIC   EMBELLISHMENT 

IN  an  editorial  greeting  to  the  Old  Farmer's  Almanack 
for  1903,  the  New  York  Sun  comments  appreciatively 
on  the  pictures  which  typify   the   different  months. 
"  Each  month,"  says  the  Sun,  "  has  its  lines  of  poetry  and 
its  lifelike  portrait  of  a  sign  of  the  zodiac.     The  Crab  looks 
good  enough  to  eat,  and  the  tail  on  the  horse  of  the  Archer 
has  a  sweep,  range  and  boldness  that  must  recommend  it 
to  all  farriers,  blacksmiths  and  hostlers."  J 

The  figures  of  the  signs  which  are  thus  deservedly  com- 
mended,—  as  well  as  the  portrait  of  Father  Time,  with  his 
scythe  and  water-jar,  which  embellishes  the  title-page,  — 
go  back  to  1853.  In  the  preface  to  the  Almanac  for 
1852,  the  editor  announces  a  change  in  the  artistic  adorn- 
ment of  his  venerable  annual.  "  For  about  forty  years 
past,"  he  writes,  "  we  have  used,  upon  our  Title-page  and 
Calendar-pages,  wood-cuts  or  engravings  done  when  the 
art  of  engraving  was  not  as  advanced  as  now ;  but  as  time, 
the  press,  and  constant  use  have  worn  down  the  surface  of 
the  cuts,  we  intend,  in  our  next  number,  to  insert  new  and 
better  engravings  of  the  same  subjects,  which  we  hope  will 
please  all."  And  in  1853  the  pledge  is  redeemed:  — 
"  Agreeably  to  promise,"  says  the  editor,  "  we  have  some- 
what changed  our  appearance  by  the  engravings,  which  we 
insert  in  this  number,  but  though  'Father  Time'  may  be 
burnished  up,  and  improved  in  his  outward  adornings,  his 
heart  is  in  the  right  place,  and  we  trust  that  we  shall  never 
forget  the  good  old  times  of  '  Lang  Syne/  that  we  have  had 
together ;  and  though  the  signs  of  the  constellations  may 

1  New  York  Sun,  Nov.  i,  1902. 


No.  XV  Illy 


THE 


FARMER'S  ALMANACK, 

CALCULATED  ON  A  NEW  AND  IMPROVED  PLAN, 
FOR   7 HE    TEAR   Of   OUR    LORD, 


Being  the  Second  after  BISSEXTILE  or  LEAP-YEAR,  and  Thir. 
ty-fourth  of  the  INDSPBHD&NCZ  of  JJMSRICA. 

Fttttd  it  tbt  Tow*  of  BOSTON,  tut  will  fervt  for  any  of  tbt  adjoining  Statu. 

Containing,  befides  the  lar£e  number  of,  Aftronomical  Cal- 
culations, and  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  every  month  in  the  year, 
a»  great  a  variety  as  any  other  Almanack,  of 

Ufeful,  and  Entertaining  Matter. 

BY  ROBERT  B.  THOMAS] 


THOU  great  first  cause,  thy  hand  divine  did  raise 
This  solid  Earth,  and  spread  the  flowing  seas ; 
Did  make  the  Sun  in  central  glory  shine, 
And  every  planet  round  his  orb  incline  ; 


.•—Printed  for  JOHN  WEST  &  Co. 

Proprietors  of  the  Copy-Right ; 

And  for  fale  at  their  Bookftore,  No.  75,  Corr.bill,  and  by  moft  other  Book- 

fellers  in  Boflon ,  Sakm,  Nnoburyfort^  &c.  by  the  AUTHOK  in  Weft  Soyl* 

J?on,  and  by  other  Bookfellers  and  Traders  in  Nnv-E*glend. 
[Price  9  dollan  per  grofs,  87\  te*tt  per  dozen,  and  12^  etnti  fiagle-. 


1 


E.  G.  HOUSE,  Printer,  No.  5,  Court  Street. 


ARTISTIC   EMBELLISHMENT  63 

be  a  little  more  artistic,  too,  in  their  appearance,  they  are 
the  same  signs  of  pleasant  months,  and  joyous  hours,  spent 
together  in  many  a  happy  home,  and  by  many  a  cheerful 
fireside."  The  new  cuts  are  believed  to  be  the  work  of 
Hammatt  Billings,  and  were  originally  engraved  by  Nichols. 
They  have  indeed  "  pleased  all,"  as  the  editor  ventured  to 
hope,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why  they  should 
ever  be  changed  so  long  as  the  seasons  continue  the  same 
and  the  zodiac  remains  in  fashion  with  the  astronomers. 

The  set  of  figures  that  preceded  the  woodcuts  ascribed 
to  Billings  began  to  appear  in  1809,  and  were  not  materially 
altered  until  1853,  though  they  were  occasionally  rein- 
graved,  as  small  variations,  particularly  in  the  length  of 
Father  Time's  beard,  make  manifest.  They  were  pretty 
grotesque,  though  not  without  life,  as  may  be  seen  from 
the  facsimiles. 

From  1800  to  1808  the  artistic  department  of  the  Alma- 
nac was  in  a  state  of  experimental  ferment.  Before  1800 
there  were  no  cuts  at  the  heads  of  the  calendar  pages,  each 
month  being  characterized  in  a  short  piece  of  verse.  In 
1793  there  was  no  illustration  on  the  title-page;  but  a 
figure  of  a  man  in  knee-breeches  ploughing,  with  a  rural 
scene  in  the  background,  appeared  the  next  year,  and  was 
retained  until  1797  (see  p.  25),  when  it  was  replaced  by 
a  woman  seated,  with  emblems  of  agriculture  at  her  feet 
and  a  ploughing  scene  in  the  distance.  This  continued  to 
be  the  adornment  of  the  title-page,  though  with  some  vari- 
ation in  detail,  until  Father  Time  ousted  it  in  1809.  Mean- 
time, in  1800,  cuts  had  been  introduced  to  reinforce  the 
verses  at  the  head  of  each  month.  These  were,  until  1804, 
not  the  Signs  of  the  Zodiac,  but  little  scenes  illustrative  of 
the  changing  seasons  or  of  the  occupations  appropriate  to 
the  month  in  question.  Thus. for  January,  we  have  two 
men,  or  a  man  and  a  boy,  on  the  ice,  one  skating,  the  other 
whipping  a  top ;  for  February,  cattle  looking  at  the  bleak 


64 


THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 


landscape  ;  for  March,  two  boys,  in  high  hats  (one  of  which 
has  blown  off),  on  their  way  to  school ;  for  April,  a  sower ; 
for  May,  an  angler ;  for  June,  a  shepherd  in  the  shade ;  for 
July,  a  load  of  hay ;  for  August,  a  foot-passenger,  with  a 
pack  on  his  back  and  a  dog  at  his  heels,  striding  along  to 
gain  the  timely  inn;  in  September,  a  reaping  scene;  in 
October,  two  hunters,  resting  in  the  wood ;  l  in  November, 
a  man  driving  a  herd  of  cattle ;  in  December,  a  man 


JANUARY,  1800 


AUGUST,  1800 

carrying  home  a  great  load  of  fagots.  This  method  of 
representing  the  months  belongs  to  a  very  old  artistic  tra- 
dition, as  we  shall  see  in  a  moment.  Meantime  we  may 
complete  our  account  of  the  cuts  for  the  calendar  by  re- 
marking that  from  1804  to  1808  there  is,  instead  of  the 
scenes  just  described,  a  series  representing  the  signs  of  the 
zodiac  in  a  rather  peculiar  way,  —  not  as  independent  sym- 
bols, but  as  realistic  figures  with  an  environment  of  land- 

1  See  also  the  facsimile  of  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  October,  1800,  p.  81, 
below. 


ARTISTIC   EMBELLISHMENT  65 

scape.  Aquarius  (for  January)  is  an  actual  man  pouring 
water  into  a  stream;  the  Fishes  (for  February)  have  been 
caught  and  laid  on  the  bank  with  their  tails  neatly  tied  to- 
gether; the  Ram  (for  March)  lies  under  a  tree,  with  no 
suspicion  that  he  is  a  zodiacal  beast ;  the  Twins  (for  May) 
are  taking  a  walk  in  a  field,  with  an  altar  on  one  side  and 
a  small  New  England  house  on  the  other,  and  one  of  them 
has  a  star  on  his  cap  to  indicate  that  they  are  Castor  and 
Pollux ;  the  Archer  (for  November)  is  plainly  at  home  in 


MAY,  1801-1803 


DECEMBER,  1804-1808 

the  midst  of  rugged  scenery  and  defending  himself  against 
an  invisible  enemy. 

The  method  of  designating  the  several  months  by  pictures, 
whether  of  the  zodiacal  signs  or  of  the  occupations  or 
labors  of  the  year,  is  a  very  ancient  and  curious  matter, 
which  will  repay  a  little  consideration.  As  for  the  signs  of 
the  zodiac,  we  need  not  linger  over  them.  Their  origin  is 
lost  in  antiquity,  and  it  is  enough  for  us  to  trace  them  back 
to  the  Greeks  and  Romans.  The  reader  will  find  on  page 
79  a  picture  of  an  Italian  altar  inscribed  with  a  Farmer's 
Calendar  in  columns,  each  column  headed  by  a  figure  of 

5 


66       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

the  sign.  An  Athenian  sacred  calendar  has  also  been  pre- 
served, in  which  the  months  are  separated  by  similar  figures. 
On  the  page  opposite  is  a  more  complicated  illustration, 
which  includes  both  the  signs  and  the  labors  of  the  months. 
It  is  taken  from  the  Kalender  of  Shepherdes,  as  published 
in  I503-1 

This  figure  is  a  compendious  pictorial  calendar.  The  cen- 
tral circle  contains  two  figures,  a  woman  with  a  nosegay, 
who  represents  warm  weather,  and  a  man  sitting  out-of- 
doors  by  a  fire,  who  represents  cold  weather.  In  the  second 
circle  are  the  months,  each  typified  by  an  appropriate 
scene :  January,  by  a  man  slaughtering  a  boar ;  February, 
by  a  man  sitting  at  a  table  with  a  tankard  before  him ; 
March,  by  a  woman  warming  her  hands  and  feet  at  a  fire ; 
April,  by  a  pruner  at  work;  May,  by  a  lover  and  his  lass 
out  a-Maying;  June,  by  a  plowman;  July,  by  a  mower; 
August,  by  a  reaper;  September,  by  a  man  with  a  mat- 
tock; October,  by  a  man  driving  a  horse;  November,  by 
a  vintager;  December,  by  a  shepherd.  If  these  occupa- 
tions do  not  suit  our  climate,  we  must  remember  that  they 
were  not  designed  for  it,  but  rather  for  the  south  of  Europe, 
for  we  are  dealing  with  a  very  old  set  of  conventional 
figures.  In  the  outermost  circle  are  the  signs  of  the  zodiac, 
each  divided  between  two  months. 

Illuminated  calendars  dating  from  Anglo-Saxon  times 
preserve  an  interesting  series  of  the  labors  of  the  months 
which  continued,  with  some  variations,  through  the  middle 
ages  "  and  even  appears  in  the  printed  calendars  and  alma- 
nacs of  the  sixteenth  century  in  England,  Germany,  and 
the  Low  Countries." 2  The  killing  of  swine,  which  is  in 
the  Kalender  of  Shepherdes,  was  a  favorite  subject  for 
November  or  December.  It  is  found,  for  instance,  on  an 
old  Norman  font  at  Brookland,  in  Kent,  on  the  archivolt  of 

1  On  this  work  see  page  53,  above. 

2  Thomas  Wright,  Archaeological  Album,  London,  1845,  P-  64. 


THE  CIRCLE  OF  THE  MONTHS 
(From  the  Kalender  of  Shepherdes,  1503) 


ARTISTIC   EMBELLISHMENT  6/ 

the  great  west  doorway  of  St  Mark's  Cathedral  at  Venice, 
at  the  side  of  the  central  doorway  of  the  fagade  of  the 
cathedral  at  Lucca,  on  the  tympanum  of  the  doorway  of 
the  monastery  of  St.  Ursin,  in  France,  on  a  capital  in  the 
Doge's  palace  at  Venice,  in  a  mosaic  pavement  at  Piacenza 
and  again  at  Aosta,  in  the  famous  paintings  by  Giotto  in 
the  great  hall  at  Padua.  A  very  vigorous  example  occurs 
in  a  fourteenth-century  medallion  of  painted  glass  in  DeWs- 


JANUARY,  1809-1852 


NOVEMBER,  SINCE  1852 

bury  Church,  Yorkshire,  which  may  have  been  meant  as  a 
type  of  the  whole  season  of  winter.  The  edge  of  the  axe 
is  turned  backward,  and  the  boar  is  tied  by  the  snout  to 
the  stump  of  a  tree.1 

Such  figurative  representations  of  the  months  and 
seasons  turn  up  everywhere,  as  the  examples  already 
given  have  doubtless  suggested,  from  one  end  of  Europe 
to  the  other.  In  introducing  them  into  his  Almanac  Mr. 
Thomas  was  simply  following  the  fashion  of  his  time, 
1  Archaeologia,  XLIV,  plate  V,  opposite  p.  178. 


68       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

but  he  was  unconsciously  attaching  his  little  annual  to  a 
very  venerable  tradition.  We  must  refrain  from  pursuing 
the  subject,  attractive  as  it  is.  The  reader  who  wishes  to 
know  more  will  be  able  to  satisfy  his  curiosity  by  con- 
sulting a  learned  article  by  Mr.  James  Fowler  in  the 
forty-fourth  volume  of  the  Archaeologia,  the  official  publi- 
cation of  the  London  Society  of  Antiquaries. 

Except  for  symbolical  illustrations  such  as  we  have  just 
considered,  Mr.  Thomas  did  not  yield  to  the  temptation 
to  embellish  his  Almanac  with  engravings,  for  the  occa- 
sional diagrams  to  elucidate  eclipses  and  other  astronomi- 
cal matters  and  the  map  of  New  England  are  not  for  show 
but  for  use.  The  first  departure  from  this  rule  was  when, 
in  1835,  he  yielded  to  the  solicitations  of  his  publishers 
and  consented  to  let  his  portrait  appear. 

Some  of  the  early  New  England  astronomers  had  less 
self-restraint,  and  tricked  out  their  books  with  all  manner 
of  eccentric  novelties.  Ames  does  so  with  peculiar  zest 
in  his  issue  for  1772,  which  is  advertised  on  the  cover 
as  "  containing,  besides  what  is  usual  in  Almanacks,  a 
Description  of  the  Dwarf  that  lately  made  her  Appearance 
in  this  Town;  as  also  a  curious  Method  of  taking  Wax 
and  Honey  without  destroying  the  Bees."  The  dwarf  was 
Miss  Emma  Leach,  born  in  Beverly,  "  about  20  Miles 
distant  from  this  town,"  in  1719.  The  description  is  re- 
inforced by  a  very  disagreeable  cut  on  the  cover.  Besides 
this  monstrosity,  we  have  a  large  portrait  of  "  J-n  D-k-ns-n, 
Esq ;  Barrister  at  Law,"  that  is  John  Dickinson  (1732- 
1808)  of  the  Continental  Congress,  who  is  described  in 
the  title  as  "  The  Patriotic  American  Farmer  "  and  as  one 
"  who  with  Attic  Eloquence,  and  Roman  Spirit,  hath 
asserted  the  Liberties  of  the  British  Colonies  in  America." 
Dickinson  is  resting  his  elbow  on  Magna  Charta  and  holds 
in  his  hand  a  scroll  inscribed  "  Farmer's  Letters,"  —  his 
well-known  book  in  defence  of  freedom.  The  same  num- 


ARTISTIC   EMBELLISHMENT  69 

her  also  exhibits  a  ridiculous  full-length  portrait  of  "  Mrs. 
Catharine  M'Caulay,"  the  admired  authoress,  who  is 
standing  in  a  constrained  attitude,  holding  a  little  bird 
(probably  a  canary)  on  her  extended  hand. 

Bickerstaff's  Boston  Almanack  was  also  a  sinner  in 
this  direction.  It  showed  a  penchant  for  savages  —  men 
and  beasts.  Thus  in  1768  the  cover  exhibits  a  terrific 
picture  of  a  family  of  Patagonian  giants.  Other  numbers 
have  figures  of  New  Zealanders  (1775),  "the  Orang 
Outang  "  (1769),  and  "an  exact  and  elegant  representa- 
tion of  that  Furious  WILD  BEAST  "  which  ravaged  the 
South  of  France  in  1764  and  I765-1 

The  Wild  Beast  of  the  Gevaudan,  as  the  creature  was 
called  from  the  district  where  its  depredations  were  most 
extensive,  appears  to  have  been  a  hyena  escaped  from 
a  travelling  show.  The  contemporary  accounts  are  obvi- 
ously exaggerated,  for  there  was  a  veritable  reign  of 
terror  in  Languedoc.  Still,  if  only  half  of  what  was 
reported  is  true,  the-  situation  was  bad  enough.  The 
most  sensational  narrative,  but  one  of  the  best  authenti- 
cated, comes  from  Montpellier,  Feb.  8,  1765  :  — 

On  the  1 2th  ultimo  the  wild  beast  attacked  seven  children, 
five  boys  and  two  girls,  none  of  whom  exceeded  eleven  years  of 
age.  The  beast  flew  at  one  of  the  boys ;  but  the  three  eldest 
of  them  by  beating  him  with  stakes,  the  ends  of  which  were  iron, 
obliged  him  to  retire,  after  having  bitten  off  a  part  of  the  boy's 
cheek,  which  he  ate  before  them.  He  then  seized  another  of 
the  children;  but  they  pursued  him  into  a  marsh  which  was 
close  by,  where  he  sunk  in  up  to  his  belly.  By  continually  beat- 
ing him,  they  rescued  their  companion;  who,  though  he  was 
under  his  paw  for  some  time,  received  only  a  wound  in  his  arm, 
and  a  scratch  in  the  face.  A  man  at  last  coming  up,  the 
creature  was  put  to  flight.  He  afterwards  devoured  a  boy  at 
Mazel,  and,  on  the  2ist,  flew  on  a  girl,  who,  however,  escaped 
1  Bickerstaff  for  1773. 


70       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

with  some  dangerous  wounds.  The  next  day  he  attacked  a 
woman,  and  bit  off  her  head.  Captain  Duhamel,  of  the  dragoons, 
is  in  pursuit  of  him,  and  has  caused  several  of  his  men  to  dress 
themselves  in  women's  apparel,  and  to  accompany  the  children 
that  keep  cattle. 

The  bravery  of  the  children  was  recognized  by  King 
Louis  XV,  who  awarded  four  hundred  livres  to  the  eldest 
of  the  boys,  who  had  particularly  distinguished  himself, 
and  ordered  three  hundred  to  be  distributed  among  his 
companions.  The  description  of  the  beast  printed  in  the 
St.  James's  Chronicle  for  June  6,  1765,  along  with  a  wood- 
cut, from  which  that  in  Bickerstaff 's  Boston  Almanack  was 
doubtless  taken,  is  disquieting  enough:  — 

It  is  larger  than  a  Calf  of  a  year  old,  strongly  made  before, 
and  turned  like  a  Grayhound  behind.  His  Nose  is  long  and 
pointed,  his  Ears  upright  and  smaller  than  a  Wolf 's,  his  Mouth 
of  a  most  enormous  size,  and  always  wide  open ;  a  Streak  of 
Black  runs  from  his  Shoulders  to  the  Beginning  of  his  Tail.  His 
Paws  are  very  large  and  strong ;  the  Hair  on  his  Back  and  Mane 
thick,  bristly,  and  erect ;  his  Tail  long  and  terminating  in  a  Bush, 
like  that  of  a  Lion  ;  his  Eyes  small,  fierce,  and  fiery.  From  this 
description  it  appears  that  he  is  neither  a  Wolf,  Tiger,  nor  Hyena, 
but  probably  a  Mongrel,  generated  between  the  two  last,  and 
forming,  as  it  were,  a  new  Species. 

The  animal  was  killed  in  September,  1765,  but  not, 
we  are  gravely  assured,  until  it  had  destroyed  more  than 
seventy  persons.1 

1  Mason  Jackson,  The  Pictorial  Press,  its  Origin  and  Progress,  London, 
1885,  pp.  206-13. 


MURDER   WILL    OUT 

AN  almanac  as  conceived  by  Mr.  Thomas  should  be 
an  annual  compendium  of  human  interests.  Now 
nothing  is  more  interesting  than  Murder.  Murder 
is  the  material  of  great  literature,  —  the  raw  material,  if  you 
will,  but  is  not  raw  material  essential  to  production,  as  well  in 
art  as  in  manufactures?  What  distinguishes  De  Quincey's 
famous  Postscript  on  certain  memorable  murders  from 
the  grewsome  scareheaded  "  stories  "  of  the  purveyor  for  the 
daily  press  ?  Surely  not  the  matter  !  The  bare  plot  of  the 
sublimest  of  Greek  tragedies,  the  Agamemnon  of  ^Eschylus, 
finds  its  closest  parallel  in  a  horrible  butchery  in  low  life  that 
occurred  in  New  York  a  few  years  ago.  Conventional 
phrases  are  always  tiresome  enough,  but  none  is  more  so 
than  that  of  "  morbid  curiosity  "  as  applied  to  the  desire 
to  know  the  circumstances  of  a  great  crime.  The  phrase 
is  like  a  proverb:  it  is  only  half  true,  though  it  masquer- 
ades as  one  of  the  eternal  verities.  Curiosity  is  natural ; 
without  it  a  man  is  a  mere  block,  incapable  of  intellectual 
advancement.  And  curiosity  about  crime  and  criminals  is 
no  less  natural,  no  further  morbid  —  that  is,  diseased  or 
abnormal  —  than  that  which  attaches  to  any  other  startling 
event  or  remarkable  personage.  Like  all  other  forms  of 
curiosity,  it  may  become  morbid,  and  perhaps  it  is  well  to 
restrain  it,  —  but  that  is  not  the  question. 

On  one  point,  at  all  events,  all  reasonable  men  will 
agree  :  The  detection  of  murder  is  laudable  and  necessary. 
Nobody  can  be  blamed  for  what  everybody  must  feel,  — 
an  interest  in  the  thousand  ways  in  which  murders  come 


72  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

to  light.  The  old  theory  was  that  this  crime  was  so  abomi- 
nable in  God's  sight  that  he  would  not  suffer  it  to  be 
concealed.  As  Chaucer  says,  in  a  deservedly  famous 
passage :  — 

O  blisful  God,  that  art  so  iust  and  trewe ! 
Lo  how  that  thou  biwreyest  mordre  alvvay  ! 
Mordre  ivol  out !  that  se  we  day  by  day. 
Mordre  is  so  wlatsom  x  and  abhominable 
To  God,  that  is  so  iust  and  resonable, 
That  he  ne  wol  nat  suffre  it  heled  2  be  ; 
Though  it  abyde  a  yeer,  or  two,  or  three, 
Mordre  wol  out,  this  my  conclusioun. 

God's  Revenge  against  Murder  was  a  famous  seventeenth- 
century  book.  It  was  even  held  that  the  ordinary  laws  of 
nature  were  sometimes  suspended  or  supplemented  by 
miraculous  intervention,  if  the  guilty  man  could  be  re- 
vealed in  no  other  way. 

With  all  this  in  view,  we  may  fairly  hold  that  Mr.  Thomas 
would  not  have  done  his  duty  by  his  time  if  he  had  not 
given  his  readers  a  specimen  of  the  countless  anecdotes 
that  illustrate  our  theme.  Accordingly,  it  is  with  no  small 
satisfaction  that  the  philosophic  observer  of  life  and  letters 
notes  the  following  article  in  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for 
1796:  — 

MURDERS  STRANGELY  DISCOVERED. 

IN  the  second  year  of  the  reign  of  King  James  I,  one  Anne 
Waters  settling  an  unlawful  love,  or  rather  lust,  on  a  young  man 
in  the  neighbourhood  ;  and  finding  their  frequent  meetings  were 
interrupted  by  her  husband,  they  agreed  to  strangle  him  :  which 
being  done,  they  buried  him  under  a  dunghill,  in  the  cow-house. 
The  man  being  missed  by  his  neighbours,  and  the  woman  arti- 
ficially dissembling  her  grief,  and  admiring  what  was  become  of 
him,  all  were  at  liberty  to  make  their  own  conjectures ;  but  none 

1  That  is,  "  loathsome."  2  That  is,  "  hidden." 


MURDER   WILL   OUT  73 

suspected  the  wife  of  contributing  to  his  absence,  but  assisted  her 
inquiries  after  him.  In  this  time  one  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village  dreamed,  "  That  his  neighbour  Waters  was  strangled,  and 
buried  under  a  dunghill  in  the  cow-house  ;  "  and,  telling  his  dream 
to  others,  it  was  resolved  the  place  should  be  searched  by  a  con- 
stable ;  which  being  done,  Waters's  corps  was  found  ;  and  some 
other  concurring  suspicions  appearing,  the  wife  was  apprehended  ; 
and,  confessing  the  truth,  was  burnt,  according  to  law  in  that  case 
provided. 


PARTHENIUS,  treasurer  to  Theodobert,  King  of  France,  hav- 
ing killed  his  dear  friend,  Ausanius,  and  his  wife  ;  when  no  man  ac- 
cused, much  less  suspected  him  guilty  of  such  a  crime,  Providence 
so  ordered  the  affair,  that  he  discovered  it  himself  after  this  strange 
manner.  As  he  was  taking  his  repose  in  bed,  he  suddenly  cried  out, 
"Help,  help,  or  I  am  ruined  to  eternity;  "  and  being  demanded 
what  made  him  in  such  a  terrible  fright,  he,  between  sleeping  and 
waking,  answered,  "  That  his  friend  Ausanius,  and  his  wife,  whom 
he  had  murdered  long  ago,  summoned  him  to  answer  before  the  tri- 
bunal of  God  Almighty."  Upon  which  words  he  was  apprehended, 
and,  upon  conviction,  stoned  to  death. 

A  close  parallel  to  the  first  of  these  stories  is  an  item  in 
the  New  England  Journal  for  December  i,  1729  i1  — 

Last  week,  one  belonging  to  Ipswich  came  to  Boston  and  re- 
lated, that,  some  time  since,  he  was  at  Canso,  in  Nova  Scotia  ;  and 
that  on  a  certain  day  there  appeared  to  him  an  apparition  in  blood 
and  wounds,  and  told  him,  that  at  such  a  time  and  place,  mention- 
ing both,  he  was  murdered  by  one,  who  was  at  Rhode  Island,  and 
desired  him  to  go  to  the  said  person,  and  charge  him  with  the 
said  murder,  and  prosecute  him  therefor,  naming  several  circum- 
stances relating  to  the  murder ;  and  that  since  his  arrival  from 
Canso  to  Ipswich,  the  said  apparition  had  appeared  to  him  again, 

1  As  quoted  by  J.  B.  Felt,  History  of  Ipswich,  Essex,  and  Hamilton, 
Cambridge,  1834,  pp.  208-9. 


74       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

and  urged  him  immediately  to  prosecute  the  said  affair.  The 
abovesaid  person,  having  related  the  matter,  was  advised  and  en- 
couraged to  go  to  Rhode  Island,  and  engage  therein,  and  he 
accordingly  set  out  for  that  place  on  Thursday  last. 

While  we  are  on  this  subject,  it  will  not  be  improper  to 
instance  an  article  of  New  England  belief  which,  if  not 
actually  credited  when  the  Farmer's  Almanack  began  to 
appear,  in  1792,  was  in  full  force,  and  apparently  recog- 
nized in  legal  procedure,  as  late  as  1769.  This  was  the 
superstition  that  the  corpse  of  the  victim  would  bleed  when 
touched  by  the  murderer,  or  even,  it  might  be,  on  his  mere 
approach.  The  ordeal  by  touch  was  once  practised,  it  is 
safe  to  say,  in  every  nation  of  Europe,  and  our  forefathers 
of  course  brought  the  custom  with  them  when  they  came 
to  New  England. 

In  1769  the  young  wife  of  Jonathan  Ames,  in  the  West 
Parish  of  Boxford,  Massachusetts,  died  suddenly.  The 
circumstances  were  suspicious.  The  body  was  disinterred, 
and  the  physicians  who  examined  it  found  abundant  evi- 
dence of  poison.  The  marriage  had  not  been  happy. 
Ames's  mother,  who  lived  with  him,  had  shown  violent 
enmity  towards  her  daughter-in-law,  and  had  predicted  her 
death  in  terms  which,  when  recollected,  seemed  darkly 
significant.  Both  Mrs.  Ames  and  her  son  were  bidden 
to  touch  the  body,  but,  guilty  or  not,  they  refused  to  sub- 
mit to  the  ordeal.  The  examination,  according  to  the 
record,  "  gave  great  occasion  to  conclude  that  they  were 
concerned  in  the  poisoning,"  and  they  were  committed  to 
jail  at  Salem.  There  was  no  conclusive  proof,  however, 
and  both  were  acquitted.  Shortly  after,  they  left  the  vil- 
lage and  were  lost  sight  of.  The  mystery  of  the  Ames 
Murder  was  never  cleared  up.1 

The  antiquary  who  gives  an  account  of  this  celebrated 

1  Sidney  Perley,  The  Essex  Antiquarian,  1898,  II,  i  ff. 


MURDER   WILL   OUT  75 

case  is  of  opinion  that  he  is  recording  the  only  instance 
of  the  ordeal  by  touch  in  New  England  history.  But  he 
is  mistaken.  Two  striking  examples  of  the  ordeal  may  be 
found  in  Winthrop's  Journal.  The  first  occurred  in  1644, 
and  is  graphically  narrated  by  the  colonial  governor.  One 
Cornish,  living  at  Agamenticus,  "  was  taken  up  in  the  river, 
his  head  bruised,  and  a  pole  sticking  in  his  side,  and  his 
canoe  laden  with  clay  found  sunk.  His  wife  (being  a 
lewd  woman,  and  suspected  to  have  fellowship  with  one 
Footman)  coming  to  her  husband,  he  bled  abundantly, 
and  so  did  he  also,  when  Footman  was  brought  to  him ; 
but  no  evidence  could  be  found  against  him."  1  Footman 
was  discharged,  but  the  woman  was  convicted,  though  not, 
it  seems,  on  the  testimony  of  the  ordeal  of  blood.  In  the 
second  case,  which  came  two  years  later,  in  1646,  confes- 
sion followed  the  ceremony,  as  must  often  have  happened. 
A  poor  creature  had  killed  her  child,  and  "  when  she  was 
brought  before  the  jury,  they  caused  her  to  touch  the  face 
of  it,  whereupon  the  blood  came  fresh  into  it,"  and  she 
confessed  the  truth.2  This  remarkable  providence  could 
not  escape  the  all-recording  Cotton  Mather.  He  narrates 
it  in  his  Magnalia,  deriving  his  information  from  Winthrop's 
Journal.  Characteristically  enough,  he  improves  the  nar- 
rative. According  to  him  the  blood  actually  flowed  anew, 
and  did  not  merely  "  come  fresh  into  the  face,"  as  Winthrop 
declares.3 

Another  instance  from  the  same  century  is  related  by 
Cotton  Mather  in  a  passage  which  may  serve  as  a  speci- 
men of  his  best  style  :  — 

Several  Indians  were  made  horribly  drunk  by  the  drink  which 
the  English  had  sold  unto  them.  Returning  home  over  a  little 

1  Winthrop,  ed.  Savage,  1853,  II,  258. 

2  The  same,  II,  369. 

3  T.ook  vi,  chap.  5,  ed.  1853,  II,  398. 


76       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

ferry,  eight  of  them  were  drown'd  (from  December  to  March) 
one  of  their  dead  bodies  came  ashore  very  near  the  place  where 
they  had  been  supplied  with  their  drink ;  and  lying  on  the  shore, 
it  bled  so  plentifully,  as  to  discolour  the  water  and  sand  about  it. 
Upon  which  the  considerate  spectators  thought  of  that  scripture, 
"  the  stone  shall  cry  out  of  the  wall  "  against  him  that  "  gives  his 
neighbour  drink."  They  thought  there  was  a  loud  cry  of  "  Blood  ! 
blood!  "  against  some  wicked  English  in  this  matter.1 

The  murder  of  Sassamon,  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
cases  in  the  annals  of  Plymouth  Colony,  affords  us  another 
opportunity  to  observe  the  "  ordeal  of  the  bier."  John 
Sassamon,  who  is  said  to  have  studied  in  the  Indian  School 
at  Cambridge,  was  at  one  time  King  Philip's  secretary. 
But  he  returned  to  his  English  allegiance  and  was  appointed 
preacher  to  the  Indians  of  Middleborough.  In  1674,  learn- 
ing of  Philip's  hostile  preparations,  Sassamon  gave  warning 
to  the  governor  at  Plymouth,  though  he  was  well  aware 
that  he  did  so  at  the  risk  of  his  life.  Soon  after  his  body 
was  found  in  Assawomset  Pond  with  the  neck  broken  and 
other  marks  of  violence  upon  it.  Beyond  question  he  had 
been  put  to  death  as  a  traitor  by  Philip's  orders.  Three 
Indians  were  convicted  of  the  murder,  and  executed  at 
Plymouth  in  June,  1675.  The  jury,  according  to  custom, 
consisted  of  both  white  men  and  Indians,  and  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  evidence  was  satisfactory.  Increase 
Mather  thinks  it  worth  noting  that  when  Tobias,  who 
seems  to  have  been  the  chief  culprit,  "  came  near  the  dead 
body,  it  fell  a  bleeding  as  fresh  as  if  it  had  been  newly 
slain,  albeit  it  was  buried  a  considerable  time  before  that."2 
If  we  may  believe  Cotton  Mather's  account  of  the  trial, 
the  experiment  was  tried  more  than  once,  and  always  with 
the  same  result.3 

1  Magnalia,  book  vi,  chap.  5,  ed.  1853,  II,  402. 

2  A  Relation  of  the  Troubles  which  have  hapned  in  New-England,  by 
reason  of  the  Indians  there,  Boston,  1677,  p.  75;   Drake's  ed.  p.  236. 

3  Magnalia,  book  vii,  chap.  6,  §  5. 


MURDER  WILL   OUT  77 

There  is  a  large  collection  of  similar  cases  in  Pitcairn's 
Criminal  Trials  in  Scotland.1  The  most  extraordinary  is 
that  of  Johan  Norkott  in  England  (1628),  as  reported  by 
an  eminent  lawyer.  On  this  occasion  the  minister  of  the 
parish,  "a  very  reverend  person,"  testified  (and  his  evi- 
dence was  corroborated)  that  when  the  body  was  touched 
by  the  defendants  thirty  days  after  death,  "  the  brow  of 
the  dead,  which  before  was  of  a  livid  and  carrion  colour, 
begun  to  have  a  dew  or  gentle  sweat  arise  on  it,  which 
increased  by  degrees,  till  the  sweat  ran  down  in  drops  on. 
the  face.  The  brow  turned  to  a  lively  and  fresh  colour, 
and  the  deceased  opened  one  of  her  eyes  and  shut  it 
again :  -And  this  opening  the  eye  was  done  three  several 
times.  She  likewise  thrust  out  the  ring  or  marriage  finger 
three  times,  and  pulled  it  in  again;  and  the  finger  dropped 
blood  from  it  on  the  grass." 

1  Edinburgh,  1833,  III,  191  ff. 


WIT  AND  WISDOM   OF  THE  FARMER'S 
CALENDAR 

FARMER'S  Calendars  are  of  respectable  antiquity.    A 
typical  example  from  ancient  Rome  is  preserved  in  the 
Naples  Museum.     It  is  inscribed  on  a  block  of  marble 
about  two  feet  and  a  half  in  height,  and  a  foot  and  a  half 
in  length  and  breadth.     Each  face  includes  three  months, 
and  each  month  stands  in  a  column  by  itself.    The  language 
is  of  course  Latin,  and  the  contents  are  very  simple,  as 
may  be  seen  by  the  following  translation  of  the  calendar 
for  May  and  September:  — 

Month  Month 

May.  September. 

Days,  31.  Days,  30. 

Nones  on  the  7th.  Nones  on  the  5th. 

Day,  14  hours.  Day»  12  hours. 

Night,  9  hours.  Night,  12  hours. 

Sun  in  Taurus.  Equinox 

Under  the  protection  8th  day  before  the  Ka- 

of  Apollo.  lends  of  October. 

Crops  are  hoed ;  Sun  in  Virgo. 

Sheep  are  sheared;  Under  the  protection 

Wool  is  washed;  of  Vulcan. 

Bullocks  are  tamed ;  Wine  jars 

Vetch  for  fodder  are  sealed  with  pitch; 

is  cut;  Apples  are  gathered ; 

Crops  Trees 

are  purified  by  lustrations.  are  dug  round. 

Sacrifices  to  Mercury  Feast 

and  to  Flora.  to  Minerva. 


WIT   AND  WISDOM   OF  THE   FARMER'S   CALENDAR     79 


Another  copy,  on  a  three-sided  block,  with  four  months 
on  each  face,  was  also  found  at  Rome.1 

It  will  be  noted  that  we  have  here  a  combination  of 
an  ordinary  calendar  with  memoranda  for  farmers.  There 
are  a  few  simple  astronomical  facts  of  general  importance, 
the  appropriate  occupations  of  the  season  are  set  forth, 
and  the  chief  festival  of  the  month  closes  the  account. 


DlS 


FEBRAR, 
DIES  XXVQD 
WON' 


MENSIS 
MART  IV  5 
DIES  *XXI 


NOXliORHKf 


OR  XII 
NOX.HORXK 


MENSlb 
I  A.NVAR 
DIES  xi(Xt 
NIONqVtwr 
DIESHORVIIIIS 
NO*  HORYJDC- 
SOL 


CAfRlCORUO  rVTELNEPTVNl  Vttt  KAL  ».P« 


TVTELA 

1VNON15 

PA.LVS 

A.QVITVR 

SAUX 

KAfWNDO 

C\EDITVR 


ACRinCAN  LVPEIVCALtA  SAtP.  M  AMV«J 


SE&ETE5 

SARIVKITVR. 

VI M  E  ARV  Mf/tN£ft£PtDAMfl 
SVPERfK  C<VLII  INPA.^TINO 
HAR.VNDINES 


PARENTA.LU  ISIOliMAVICWM 


TRIA  LAvfATIQ 


ROMAN  FARMER'S  CALENDAR 

The    resemblance    to    the    modern    almanac    needs    no 
emphasizing. 

The  miscellaneous  precepts  of  the  Almanac  are  likewise 
modern  representatives  of  an  ancient  line.  Many  passages 
in  Cato's  treatise  on  Agriculture  might  be  inserted  in  the 
Farmer's  Calendar  without  our  knowing  the  difference, 
except  for  a  phrase  or  two  that  show  some  incompatibility 
of  climate  or  custom.  Here,  for  instance,  are  two  extracts 

1    See  Mommsen,  Corpus  Inscriptionum  Latinarum,  I,  358-9  ;    Romische 
Chronologic,  zd  ed.,  1859,  p.  68;    Real  Museo  Borbonico,  II,  ta.  xliv. 


80  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

from  Cato,  closely  translated.  They  are  almost  startling 
in  their  resemblance  to  our  Almanac.  Yet  Mr.  Thomas 
is  no  more  likely  to  have  consulted  Gate's  Latin  treatise 
than  Cato  is  to  have  imitated  the  Old  Farmer.  The  con- 
nection is  one  of  subject  and  temper,  of  obscure  but 
immemorial  tradition,  not  of  literary  imitation. 

Your  oxen  should  be  scrupulously  looked  after.  Humor  your 
ploughmen  in  some  respects,  so  that  they  may  be  more  willing  to 
take  care  of  the  oxen.  Have  good  ploughs  and  ploughshares. 
Don't  plough  rotten  soil  or  drive  a  wagon  or  cattle  over  it.  If 
you  are  not  careful  where  you  drive,  you  will  lose  three  years' 
profit.  Bed  your  sheep  and  oxen  carefully,  and  let  their  hoofs 
be  attended  to.  Protect  sheep  and  cattle  from  the  scab :  this 
usually  comes  from  insufficient  feed  or  from  exposure  to  the  rain. 
Finish  every  job  promptly ;  for,  in  farming,  if  you  are  late  about 
one  thing,  everything  will  be  behindhand.  If  straw  is  scarce, 
gather  oak-leaves  and  use  them  as  bedding  for  your  sheep  and 
oxen.1  Have  a  good  large  compost  heap.  Save  manure  care- 
fully ;  when  you  carry  it  out  [to  the  compost  heap]  cleanse  it  and 
pulverize  it.  Cart  it  out  [on  the  land]  in  the  fall.  Loosen  the 
soil  round  olive-trees  in  the  fall  and  manure  them.  Cut  the 
leaves  of  poplars,  elms,  and  oaks  in  the  season  :  store  them  up 
before  they  get  too  dry  as  fodder  for  sheep.  After  the  fall  rains 
sow  turnips,  fodder,  and  lupines.  —  Cato,  De  Agri  Cultura, 
cap.  5,  §  6. 

In  rainy  weather  find  something  to  do  indoors.  Don't  be 
idle,  but  clean  up  about  the  buildings.  Remember  that  expenses 
go  on  even  if  work  stops.  —  Cap.  39,  §  5. 

In  Mr.  Thomas's  earlier  numbers  the  Farmer's  Calendar 
is  almost  exclusively  given  to  short  directions  for  work 
appropriate  to  the  successive  days  of  the  month :  that  is, 

1  Compare  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  October,  1834  :  —  "  [Leaves]  are 
collected  and  laid  in  stables  instead  of  straw,  and  thus  make  a  very  good 
litter  for  cattle." 


OCTOBER,  Tenth  Month.         1800- 


Pomona  joyous  jpreads  her  copious  floret. 
And  with  her  bleJIings  glads  the  fertile  (hero  •, 
The  flcy  fercne  a  If  urn  t$  a  deep'ning  blue, 
And  ev'ry  grove  puts  on  a  motley  hue. 


Geurti,  Slfpeflt,  Holidays, 
Weather,  CSV.  &c. 


Farmer'/  Calendar. 


Cool  breezes.  \     Winter  apples  ihouid 

Midd.  tides.    D  cclip.  vifiblc.f1^ 


Day  breaks  4h.  3om.    3  flat.  hu"  ^ '  "?ueh ' ™™.  *** 
..    '     ,      .*•         »T  s*  tj  underncih  the  tree,  and  pick  o: 

Yard  L  nfesioh.  40111.  Cold  wilh  the  ^nA  „„  you  c£n  cor 


7 
8 

9 

10 
1 1 


i7tl»  Sun.  paft  Trin.    form. 
(5  J  7*s  or  together, 
S.J.C.  Len.  C.P.  Boft.  Mach. 


r>ff 
con- 


veniently before  you  (hake  the 
:c. 
Harveft    your   Indian   com 


~D~  ApO.^/rf  [NanuNewbp."  ^il.hou?  delay— the  bird,   »nd 
.C     J.         .    ^    u       /-     ,.,         r  jtqujiTeJs   1  am   confident  \vill. 

-1  Potatof6  no| 


St-jDenois. 


Very  ]ow  tides. 
Clouds 


12  E  1 1 8th  Sun.  -part  Trin.      up 


'3,2 


More  falling 


151  4  '7*5  fou.  ah.  Cm. 

16  5  jQjDfFr.behead.  1793. 

1 7]  6  B-urgoyiie  fur. 


I   /|  V*  j  1>\J  l  ilL/jJiw  *tit  *  J  y  y  i  »-i   ixiiiMrii  *  — 

1 81  7  St.  Luke.         ©eclip.  invifi.|the1 

191  En 9th  Sun.  pafl.  Trin. 

2OJ  t  JHigh  tides.  Rain. 

zij  3  is.fc.Taun.C  PPortl  J  Per 


dug  th 

twill  be  regretted  next. 
1  Flax  that  was  put  a  rotting 
jlafl  month,  look  to  of:en  •  the 
heavy  drws  at  thU  feafon  wil] 
frot  if  very  faft. 

Indulge  not  your  children  ia 
jeatrng  too  mjuch   fruit,  and  ef- 
J)  H|pecially  that  which  is  hard  and 
you  would  fave 


5 


Jfetsfth.  lom.    High 

•winds. 

«  riles  9h.  3om. 
moderate, 


Let  not  Indian  corn  he  long, 
in  a  heap  before  it  be  hulked. 

Cyder  finifh  making  as  foon 
as  poflible  ;  to  have  it  fine  and 


,  grind  the  apples  the  eve- 
nlng  previous  to  laying  it  np, 


Plonjjh  for  fummer   fallow 
E  J2Oth  Sun.  paft  Trin.       iw'/A'ai  every  opponunity  that  lei- 

2  l  Q  0  If        [Sts.  Sim.  &  Jude.ifure  will  admit 

3  iS.J.C.Camb.C.P.Tift.  w»/   *""*' :"  "" 

r.     r    A-r^A»^ot  imanured  and  hove  tip  in  ridtres 

_         Pref.  ADAMS  born,    l?35' for  the  next  year',  crop, 
31.161  Warn 


WIT  AND   WISDOM    OF  THE   FARMER'S   CALENDAR     8 1 

It  is  a  calendar  in  the  strictest  sense,  as  may  be  seen  in  the 
facsimile  on  the  opposite  page.  Only  in  the  winter  season, 
particularly  in  December,  the  farmer's  holiday  time,  is  a 
tendency  visible  toward  longer  and  more  general  observa- 
tions, and  even  here  these  are  pretty  carefully  kept  within 
the  limits  of  the  calendar  form.  The  farmer  is  bidden  to 
square  his  accounts;  he  is  encouraged  to  read  aloud  in  the 
long  evenings ;  he  is  exhorted  to  remember  the  poor. 
Here,  for  instance,  is  the  complete  Farmer's  Calendar  for 
December,  1796. 

Very  little  can  be  done  on  a  farm,  this  month  to  much  profit. 

Lay  in  dry  fuel,  while  the  snow  keeps  off. 

Prepare  and  put  in  order,  your  sleds  and  sleighs  as  they  will 
come  in  use  very  soon. 

Look  well  to  your  barns,  and  fatting  heards.  — "  Live  temper- 
ately, and  spend  frugally." 

The  cultivation  of  the  earth,  ought  ever  to  be  esteemed,  as  the 
most  useful  and  necessary  employment  in  life.  The  food,  and 
raiment,  by  which  all  other  orders  of  men  are  supported,  are 
derived  from  the  earth.  Agriculture  is  of  consequence ;  the  art 
which  supports,  supplies,  and  maintains  all  the  rest. 

"  Remember,  ye  wealthy  and  affluent,  the  sons  and  daughters  of 
affliction  and  distress  !  Think  of  those,  into  whose  shattered 
dwellings  poverty  enters  to  increase  the  inclemency  and  the 
horrours  of  the  present  season.  Distribute  bread  to  the  hungry, 
and  clothes  to  the  naked."  Discharge  all  the  debts  you  have 
contracted  the  last  year,  with  mechanics,  shopkeepers,  labourers, 
&c.  before  a  new  year  commences. 

The  advice  to  square  accounts  in  December  is  often 
repeated,  and  the  author  shows  a  good  deal  of  ingenuity 
in  varying  the  form  of  his  precepts.  In  the  first  number 
of  the  Almanac  (that  for  1793),  the  admonition  is  short 
and  sharp:  "Adjust  your  accounts;  see  that  your  ex- 
penditures do  not  exceed  your  incomes."  Next  year  there 

6 


82  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

is  a  humane  suggestion  with  respect  to  the  distress  that 
may  result  from  neglecting  to  pay  trifling  debts  :  —  "  Settle 
with,  and  pay  off  your  mechanics,  labourers,  and  servants; 
for,  though  the  sum[s]  due  to  them  be  but  small,  they  may 
be  of  more  consequence  to  them  than  you  may  imagine." 

But  Mr.  Thomas  was  never  inclined  to  give  impracticable 
advice.  Before  long  he  began  to  feel  that  he  had  perhaps 
been  rather  uncompromising.  It  is  all  very  well  to  say 
"  Pay  your  bills  and  collect  your  debts,"  but  both  of  these 
things  may  be  difficult  to  accomplish  at  a  given  time. 
Hence,  in  1798,  he  somewhat  modifies  the  rigor  of  his 
doctrine,  but  without  abandoning  the  excellent  principle 
which  he  wishes  to  enforce :  — 

Now  to  preserve  a  good  understanding  and  continue  in  friend- 
ship with  friends  and  neighbours,  call  upon  all  those  you  have 
had  any  dealing  with  the  preceding  year,  and  make  a  complete 
settlement ;  pay  them  off,  if  convenient,  if  the  balance  be  in 
their  favour  —  if  in  yours  and  they  find  it  not  convenient  to  pay, 
put  it  to  the  new  account  and  pass  receipts.  By  practising  this 
method  you  will  not  only  be  able  to  ascertain  your  neat  income, 
but  prevent  those  disagreeable  altercations  and  petty  law-suits 
which  take  place  too  often  between  man  and  man  from  a  delay 
of  settlement. 

"  Scoring  charges  up  "  comes  in  for  a  touch  of  good- 
natured  satire  in  the  Almanac  for  1806  (December)  :  — 

There  is  little  to  be  done  this  month  except  to  enjoy  the  fruit 
of  your  past  labour ;  but  in  the  first  place  make  a  settlement  of 
accounts  with  all.  I  trust  you  have  continually  kept  an  account 
book ;  if  not,  obtain  one  immediately,  and  depend  no  longer  on 
your  memory,  nor  on  promiscuous  chalks,  marks  and  scratches 
about  the  walls  of  your  house. 

Before  long  Mr.  Thomas  discovered  that  by  a  rigid 
adherence  to  his  first  scheme  in  the  arrangement  of  the 


WIT   AND   WISDOM   OF  THE   FARMER'S    CALENDAR      83 

Farmer's  Calendar,  this  column,  which  was  one  of  the 
most  original  features  of  his  annual,  and  which  had  much 
to  do  with  its  great  and  immediate  popularity,  would 
become  intolerably  monotonous.  With  his  usual  frank 
and  humorous  good-nature  he  at  once  took  his  readers 
into  his  confidence  and  explained  his  dilemma.  Thus  in 
January,  1 799,  he  began  as  follows :  — 

Ever  desirous  that  the  FARMER'S  CALENDAR  might  be  useful  to 
those  for  whom  it  is  designed,  induces  the  Editor  to  be  attentive 
in  making  experiments,  and  collecting  observations  from  men 
eminent  for  improvements  in  Agriculture.  Notwithstanding 
which,  there  will  appear  a  sameness  in  pursuing  each  month, 
which  is  unavoidable  while  the  seasons  continue  the  same. 

Accordingly  he  soon  ceased  to  limit  himself  to  directions 
about  what  to  plant  and  when,  or  to  cataloguing  the 
"  works  and  days."  Though  such  matters  are  not  neg- 
lected, we  find  little  moral  and  prudential  observations 
interspersed.  Here  is  one  from  the  Calendar  for  May, 
1811.  The  text  of  the  brief  sermon  is  a  proverb  which 
still  has  a  certain  appropriateness :  — 

Boston  folks,  they  say,  are  full  of  notions  —  and  so  are  country 
folks.  By  this  time  perhaps  you  think  that  I  am  a  silly,  notional 
creature.  No  matter  for  that.  Perhaps  it  is  but  a  notion,  but 
I  think  it  will  be  for  our  interest  to  gratify  these  Boston  people 
in  their  notions,  by  raising  peas,  beans,  beets,  carrots,  cabbage, 
squashes,  turnips  and  potatoes  &c.  for  their  market.  If  you 
would  know  how  this  is  to  be  done,  go  and  look  in  your  old 
almanacks. 

The  "  notions  "  of  Boston  folks  included,  in  1817,  a  fine 
discrimination  in  cider,  as  appears  from  an  item  under 
September:  — 

'There  are  a  power  of  things,'  said  uncle  Zachariah,  'to  be 
attended  to  this  month;  and  what  is  of  much  consequence,  is 


84  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

our  cider;  my  neighbour  Dupy  has  got  a  nack  of  making  his 
cider  so  good  and  nice,  that  he  gets  about  double  price  for  all  of 
it.  The  Boston  folks  have  got  a  taste  of  it,  and  they  are  full  of 
notions,  as  the  saying  is,  you  know,  and  they  love  good  things 
and  will  give  a  good  price  for  them  too.  Now  no  sooner  is  my 
neighbour  Dupy's  cider  ready  for  market,  than  they  grab  it  as 
quick  as  a  hound  will  a  wood-chuck,  and  pay  him  his  price  down 
upon  the  nail.  Zuckers,  John,  let 's  try  what  we  can  do  ! ' 

Here  is  Mr.  Thomas's  opinion  of  dogs,  which  is  not 
favorable.  Incidentally  we  get  a  rather  drastic  picture 
of  low  life  in  the  country.  The  exclamation  points  are 
Mr.  Thomas's  own  :  — 

Now  I  know  of  no  use  for  a  great  lazy  dog  in  a  family,  yet 
there  are  many  poor  people  who  keep  them,  and  seem  to  be 
more  fond  of  Jowler  than  of  their  children.  It  is  not  more  than 
a  year  since  I  sent  my  black  man  on  an  errand  into  a  neighbour- 
hood of  people,  who  were  generally  all  poor.  When  he  returned, 
he  said  he  had  been  treated  with  a  good  meal  of  boiled  pork  and 
potatoes,  but  he  sat  down  with  a  large  family  of  ragged  hungry 
children  and  three  large  fat  dogs,  without  either  knife,  fork  or 
spoon  upon  the  table.  The  woman  pulled  the  pork  apart  with 
her  fingers  for  her  family,  and  Sip  made  use  of  his  jacknife 
for  himself!  !  !  (May,  1813.) 

Frugality  was  so  essential  on  the  New  England  farm 
that  it  is  not  surprising  that  Mr.  Thomas  lays  frequent 
emphasis  on  this  virtue.  But  he  was  a  liberal  man  himself, 
and  he  knew  the  difference  between  saving  and  scraping. 
He  believed  in  a  good  table  and  thought  it  stupid  for  a 
farmer  to  neglect  his  opportunities.  His  catalogue  of 
"  garden  sauce  "  is  appetizing  enough :  — 

Beans,  peas,  young  potatoes,  carrots,  beets,  squashes,  cabbage, 
turnips,  onions,  green  corn,  apples,  pears,  plumbs,  cucumbers, 
water  and  musk  melons ;  every  variety  of  vegetables  are  to  be 


WIT   AND   WISDOM   OF  THE   FARMER'S   CALENDAR      85 

found  in  Boston  market  —  and  they  are  all  very  nice,  comfortable 
and  convenient  to  the  inhabitants ;  but  I  never  yet  ate  any  of 
them  there  that  so  well  suited  my  palate,  as  those  taken  immedi- 
ately from  my  own  garden.  Here  we  have  the  advantage  of  our 
friends  in  town.  They  have  them  not  till  after  they  have  become 
more  or  less  wilted,  dead  and  tasteless ;  but  we  use  them  fresh 
from  the  ground,  which  makes  them  much  more  palatable  and 
wholesome.  My  neighbour,  Oldfield,  however  never  cares  for 
these,  if  he  can  get  a  plenty  of  salt  beef,  turnip  and  stewed 
pumpkin.  He  is  for  no  extravagances  at  his  table ;  though  it 
has  been  reported  that  he  once  went  so  far  as  to  suffer  his  wife 
to  make  a  mince  pye  out  of  liver  and  turnip ;  but  it  was  on  an 
important  occasion,  when  the  parson  and  his  lady  made  them  a 
visit.  Economy  is  to  be  recommended,  but  I  hate  a  niggard. 
(July,  1813.) 

Another  reason  for  cultivating  the  kitchen  garden  is 
given  in  the  Calendar  for  May,  1807,  —  two  reasons, 
indeed  ;  but  how  seriously  the  second  of  them  was  meant 
to  be  taken  is  problematical.  At  all  events,  Mr.  Thomas 
was  not  a  bigoted  vegetarian. 

Plant  garden  seeds,  such  as  beans,  peas,  squashes,  melons,  &c. 
Farmers  in  general  too  much  neglect  their  gardens.  The  more 
sauce  we  eat,  the  less  meat  we  want,  and  that  the  latter  costs 
much  more  than  the  former,  I  need  not  tell  you.  Animal  food 
has  a  tendency,  it  is  said,  to  make  man  ferocious  like  dogs,  wolves 
and  tigers,  whereas  vegetables  incline  them  to  docility  and 
kindness. 

Here  is  a  paragraph  relating  to  fretfulness,  economy, 
and  that  old  New  England  institution  the  "  hired  man," 
—  three  subjects  which  the   author  shows  some  skill  in 
bringing  together  under  one  head:  — 

You  have  now  probably  hired  a  man  for  a  few  months,  to  help 
along  with  your  work  —  If  you  have  a  good  faithful  one,  then 


86       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

set  store  by  him  and  treat  him  well,  and,  mind  me  now,  don't 
you  fret.  —  Steady,  boys,  steady,  is  the  song  for  a  farmer  —  If 
you  get  yourself  into  a  habit  of  continually  fretting,  as  some  do, 
then  it  is  ten  to  one  if  you  can  get  good  men  to  work  for  you. 
But  some  prefer  a  dull,  lazy  lubber,  because  he  is  cheap  !  but 
these  cheap  fellows  I  never  want  on  my  farm.  (May,  1815.) 

As  time  went  on,  and  his  literary  courage  developed, 
Mr.  Thomas  found  a  complete  remedy  for  the  sameness 
which  at  first  seemed  inseparable  from  his  plan.  He 
gradually  fell  more  and  more  into  the  attitude  of  a  general 
mentor,  not  confining  himself  to  purely  agricultural  or 
even  prudential  counsels,  and  he  gave  freer  play  to  his 
natural  bonhomie  and  homely  sense  of  humor.  Popular 
proverbs  were  interspersed.  Little  character  sketches,  un- 
der whimsical  names  indicative  of  the  person  described, 
began  to  make  their  appearance  in  the  Farmer's  Calendar 
column,  and  these  sometimes  took  shape  in  brief  apologues 
or  anecdotes  which  are  still  good  reading  and  which  must 
have  been  peculiarly  welcome  to  his  agricultural  patrons. 

So  clear  cut  are  some  of  the  little  sketches  that  they  were 
now  and  again  given  a  personal  application  by  the  readers 
of  the  time,  who  took  keen  delight  in  recognizing  various 
local  celebrities,  of  good  or  evil  repute,  in  the  genre  pictures 
so  cleverly  sketched  by  the  philosopher  of  Sterling.  Mr. 
Thomas  even  found  it  necessary  to  warn  his  readers  that 
the  portraits  were  typical,  not  individual,  and  that  he  was 
not  ambitious  to  be  regarded  as  a  personal  satirist :  - 

"  What  a  strange  mass  of  nonsense  this  almanack-maker  sends 
out  every  year,"  cried  an  old  codger  the  other  day.  "And  now 
I  affairm,  I  believe  our  Suzy  could  write  as  nice  as  he  does ;  and, 
now  you,  I  thought  he  was  rather  too  tight  upon  Mr.  Captain 
Bluster."  I  told  the  good  old  man  that,  in  the  Farmer's  Calen- 
dar no  particular  person  was  ever  meant  to  be  satirized  by  any 
thing  there  written.  He  appeared  to  be  satisfied  and  went  off  to 


WIT  AND   WISDOM   OF  THE  FARMER'S   CALENDAR      87 

taking  in  his  cabbages;    housing  his  tools,  and  preparing   for 
winter  as  all  of  us  should  now  be  doing.     (November,  1810.) 

This  caveat  is  itself  a  racy  little  bit  of  portraiture,  and  the 
ingenious  transition  to  the  duties  of  the  season  is  delight- 
ful. The  passage  which  the  "old  codger"  thought  a  little 
too  severe  may  be  found  under  July  of  the  year  before 
(1809):  — 

Steady  is  the  word  with  good  farmers.  You  may  begin  to  hoe 
your  corn  for  the  last  time  ;  but  't  is  said  that  Captain  Bluster  in 
the  heat  of  his  passion  to  finish  haying  before  any  other  in  town, 
has  forgotten  to  hoe  his  corn  but  once  !  The  proverb  says,  he 
who  fixeth  his  soul  on  show,  loseth  reality.  Keep  your  earliest 
cucumbers  for  seed. 

Mr.  Thomas's  disclaimer  was  undoubtedly  sincere.  Yet 
his  characters  are  too  lifelike  to  be  regarded  as  mere  typi- 
cal abstractions  or  composite  photographs.  He  was  a 
shrewd  observer,  with  a  keen  eye  for  points,  and  he  knew 
the  country.  Hence  his  sketches  form  a  valuable,  as  well 
as  an  extremely  diverting,  series  of  documents  for  the  stu- 
dent of  manners  and  morals  in  New  England.  Their 
snatches  of  colloquial  dialogue  lend  them  also  some  signifi- 
cance as  examples  of  the  Yankee  dialect.  No  apology  is 
needed,  then,  for  the  reproduction,  without  further  pre- 
amble, of  several  choice  specimens  of  Mr.  Thomas's  humor- 
ous portraiture. 

[OLD    HUNKS.] 

Hunks  possesses  a  large  interest,  yet  is  afraid  of  coming  to 
want.  He  has  also  a  monstrous  appetite  for  news ;  wants  to  read 
all  the  newspapers,  yet  will  take  none  himself.  What  an  excellent 
member  of  society  such  a  man  makes  !  How  favoured  is  that 
town  which  can  have  the  supreme  honour  of  boasting  of  his  citi- 
zenship !  In  the  society  of  such  men,  publick  spirit  would  thrive 
like  a  clover  field,  and  its  sweet  fragrance  be  scented  from  afar. 
(December,  1808.) 


88  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

[GOING  TO   MEETING.] 

Good  morning,  Squire  Thimbleberry  !  So  then  you  are  carry- 
ing out  your  whole  family  to  meeting  this  morning  to  hear  the 
new-year's  sermon  ?  "  O  yes,  Mr.  Weatherwise,  I  always  intend 
that  my  family  shall  attend  meeting  at  all  times  of  the  year,  and 
on  every  Sunday  unless  they  have  special  reason  for  staying  at 
home.  There  are  a  few  fashionable  bucks  in  the  neighborhood 
who  would  persuade  my  boys  to  go  to  the  tavern  rather  than  the 
church ;  but,  by  my  troth,  sir,  may  I  see  my  sons  borne  to  their 
graves  sooner  than  follow  the  practices  of  these  swelling,  swearing, 
swaggering,  smoking,  soaking,  fopish,  fuddling  fools  !  Zounds, 
sir,  I  have  no  patience,  when  I  think  on  the  folly  of  the  times." 
(January,  1815.) 

[HASTE    MAKES  WASTE.] 

Do  not  get  in  your  hay  half  made,  merely  to  get  done  haying 
before  your  neighbour.  This  kind  of  sport  will  do  for  boys  —  but 
sober,  rational  and  prudent  farmers  will  be  guilty  of  no  such  follies 
—  you  might  as  well,  for  the  sake  of  dispatch,  tumble  your  beef 
half  bred  and  without  salt  into  your  meat  tub.  '  I  well  re- 
member,' said  neighbor  Simpkins,  '  when  I  was  a  boy,  old  capt. 
Swash  declared  he  would  be  done  haying  one  year  before  any 
body.  So  he  hired  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry,  and  at  it  they  all 
went  —  half  cut  their  grass  and  half  made  their  hay,  and  to  be 
sure  got  done  about  the  time  that  others  began.  Next  morning 
he  put  on  his  great  coat  and  walked  up  and  down  the  street,  com- 
plaining of  cold  weather,  &c.  My  father  understood  the  intended 
joke,  but  only  said,  haste  makes  waste ;  and  this  maxim  was  veri- 
fied in  the  foolish  conduct  of  capt.  Swash,  for  before  spring  his 
mow  smoked  like  a  dung  heap,  and  his  cattle  could  not  eat  his 
hay,  which  being  scarce  he  had  to  pay  a  high  price  for,  to  keep 
his  cattle  alive.'  (July,  1815.) 


WIT  AND    WISDOM   OF  THE   FARMER'S   CALENDAR      89 

[THE  FARMER'S  CONCERT.] 

"Music,  there,  music  !"  Aye,  boy,  the  music  of  the  flail  and 
cider-mill,  you  mean.  Well,  John,  let 's  put  things  in  order,  that 
we  may  give  them  the  farmer's  concert.  Let  the  cider-mill  scream 
the  treble  —  Caleb  and  Jo.  shall  slambang  the  tenor  with  their 
flails ;  neighbour  FlatstalPs  bull  will  keep  up  the  fundamental  bass ; 
while  Ben  Bluster  will  hollow  the  counter,  with  Kid  up,  old  Dob- 
bin !  Whoe,  gee,  Spark  !  Come  in  there,  Berry  !  All  together  now, 
I  say  I  (September,  1816.) 

[OLD   BETTY  BLAB.] 

"  Rumour  is  a  pipe  blown  by  surmises,  jealousies,  conjectures ; 
and  of  so  easy  and  so  plain  a  stop,  that  the  blunt  monster  with 
uncounted  heads,  the  still  discordant  wavering  multitude,  can 
play  upon  it."  Old  Betty  Blab  is  a  dabster  on  this  instrument ; 
she  knows  exactly  how  to  time  and  to  key  her  tune  to  give  the 
proper  effect ;  she  can  perform  in  diatonic,  cromatic,  or  enhar- 
monic with  vast  variety  and  astonishing  modulation.  Sometimes 
you  will  hear  her  whizzing  and  twittering  aloft,  like  a  swallow  or 
curlew ;  then  in  a  moment  she  will  drop  into  the  croaking  of  a 
cormorant ;  then,  by  a  sort  of  tivisty-cum-quirk,  she  passes  into 
the  bob-a-lincorn,  and  here  she  excells  all  description.  Next 
succeeds  a  touch  of  the  affectuoso,  and  then  this  delightful  solo 
ends  in  a  sort  of  whisper,  like  the  notes  of  an  humble  bee  in  a 
pumpkin  blossom.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  do  justice  in  de- 
scribing her  powers.  In  all  her  compositions  she  is  a  master 
hand  in  thorough  base.  Your  garden  must  be  attended  to ;  a 
plenty  of  sauce  greatly  diminishes  the  butcher's  bill.  (April, 
1817.) 

[PUTTING   ON    AIRS.] 

Now,  if  you  want  time  to  pass  away,  go,  buy  an  old  horse  or 
watch,  give  your  note  for  60  days  and  you  will  be  gratified. 
Where  is  the  benefit  in  allowing  young  Ebenezer  to  swagger 
around  with  a  paltry  old  watch  in  his  pocket  and  a  seal  as  big  as 


9O       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

a  kitten's  head,  puffing  his  segar  like  a  wind  broken  horse  ?  O, 
it  is  passing  strange  that  we  should  let  the  wholesome  habits  of 
good  old  times  pass  away  and  be  forgotten.  Send  your  boys  to 
school  and  see  that  they  are  also  learnt  something  at  home.  The 
barn-floor,  —  the  linter  —  the  flail  &  the  curry-comb  are  not  to 
be  neglected.  To  be  sure  it  is  well  enough,  and  indeed  it  is  very 
proper  to  have  recreation ;  but  to  have  nothing  else  doing  will 
ultimately  bring  ruin.  Either  the  body  or  mind  must  be  engaged 
in  honest  industry ;  for  idleness  is  like  grog  —  take  nothing  else 
and  —  "you  're  gone,  man."  (February,  1819.) 

[THE    LOTTERY.] 

I  wish  you  a  happy  new  year,  Mr.  Reader,  but  I  fear  you  will 
not  find  it.  I  have  seen  forty  years,  no  one  of  which  has  been 
free  from  care  and  anxiety.  To  be  sure  I  have  often  imagined 
that  I  had  lit  upon  the  path  where  happiness  had  passed  along, 
and  fancied  I  should  very  soon  be  saluted  with  the  brightness  of 
her  countenance.  Here  —  here  !  cried  I  to  neighbor  Simpkins, 
here  is  the  way.  See  —  every  guide  board  points  in  this  direction. 
'  Ah,  zuckins,'  cries  neighbor  Simpkins,  '  you  will  soon  find 
yourself  mistaken.  Your  path  leads  down  to  the  gloomy  pits  of 
ruin.  Your  charming  enticer  is  in  reality  a  haggard  hobgoblin  — 
look  out,  neighbor,  look  out.'  I  was  putting  my  hand  in  my 
pocket  book  to  take  out  a  bill  to  purchase  a  ticket  in  the  lottery, 
but  my  neighbor's  caution  prevented  my  throwing  away  my  money 
in  this  manner.  '  Here,'  said  I  to  my  boy,  '  here,  Tom,  take 
this  five  dollar  bill  to  the  widow  lonesome  ;  tell  her,  it  is  at  her 
disposal ;  then  hasten  back  to  your  school.  I  will  to  my  team 
and  my  wood-lot.'  (January,  1813.) 

[THE   IDES   OF   MARCH.] 

"  Pray,  Uncle  Jacob,"  cried  old  Goody  Dowdy  to  one  of  my 
neighbours,  who  is  said  to  know  a  great  deal  about  the  weather 
and  the  stars,  and  the  planets,  and  all  the  signs  and  wonders  in 
the  heavens,  "what  do  they  mean  by  the  Ides  of  March?" 


WIT  AND  WISDOM  OF  THE  FARMER'S  CALENDAR   91 

"  Tut,"  says  Uncle  Jacob,  "  easy  enough  answered  —  why,  madam, 
the  Ides  were  eight  old  women,  the  Nones  nine,  and  Calind 
another,  making  eighteen  in  the  whole.  Their  breath  was  poison 
as  the  effluvia  of  asps.  In  the  month  of  March,  particularly  when 
other  folks  kept  in,  by  reason  of  bad  going,  these  old  hags  were 
sure  to  be  abroad,  blurting  and  puffing  their  venom  against  every 
good  reputation,  to  which  they  were  mortal  enemies.  Old  mother 
Calind  took  the  lead,  next  went  the  Nones,  and  last  the  Ides  fol- 
lowed as  gleaners.  To  whatsoever  was  true,  honest,  just,  pure, 
lovely,  or  of  good  report,  their  breath  was  as  blasting  and  mildew. 
These  monsters  are  now  no  more  ;  but  they  so  leavened  the  world 
with  their  abominable  practices  that  their  influence  will  never  be 
eradicated."  (March,  1816.) 

[MARGARET   AND   THE   MARE.] 

"  My  dear  Margaret,  heaven  gave  you  not  that  sweet  voice  to  be 
employed  in  scolding ;  nor  those  delicate  features  to  be  disfigured 
with  anger.  Softly,  my  dear,  softly.  You  see  I  am  about  to  go, 
head  and  ears,  right  into  the  swamp  to  get  muck  for  manure. 
The  mare  cannot  go  by  any  means,  as  we  shall  want  her  in  the 
team.  The  ladies  must  put  by  their  ride,  otherwise  I  shall  lose 
this  opportunity  of  carting  my  compost ;  and  you  must  know,  my 
dear,  that  mud  is  money  to  a  farmer."  "  By  jinks,"  retorts  madam, 
"the  mare  shan't  go?  my  word  for't  but  she  shall !  yes,  here's 
a  husband  for  a  horse  !  The  mare  shall  go  in  spite  of  men, 
money,  or  mud."  (November,  1816.) 

[TRADITION    AND    PARSNIPS.] 

"  A  happy  new  year  to  you,  Mr.  Comfortable  ;  will  you  lend  me 
a  mess  of  parsneps  for  dinner?"  "  Parsneps  !  what,  lend  pars- 
neps?  No,  I  will  give  you  some;  but  have  you  raised  none?  " 
"  Why,  yes ;  but  I  never  dig  mine  till  spring.  I  think  they  are  a 
great  deal  better  for  it.  This  used  to  be  my  father's  and  grand- 
father's practice,  and  I  approve  of  it  as  the  best  plan."  "  Poh, 
nonsense  !  The  best  plan  to  keep  yours  in  the  ground,  and  so 


92  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

beg  parsneps  all  winter,  rather  than  vary  from  a  superstitious  and 
foolish  notion  of  your  grandmother  !  "  "  Ichabod,  my  son,"  said 
goody  Slipshod,  "  never  dig  your  parsneps  in  the  fall.  Depend 
upon  it,  you  '11  never  prosper,  Ichabod,  if  you  vary  from  the  good 
old  rules  of  your  grandfather,  Catnip.  You  can  borrow  once  in 
a  while  from  Squire  D.  and  so  pay  in  the  spring.  That  is  the 
safest,  my  son."  Fudge,  fudge  !  Let  fools  enjoy  their  folly,  and 
we  '11  enjoy  our  parsneps  and  pot  luck.  Dig  them  about  the  last 
of  November.  Keep  them  in  a  cool  cellar  or  out  house,  covered 
with  dry  sand  or  sods.  They  will  be  sweet  and  excellent  food  for 
man  or  beast.  They  require  a  deep,  rich,  mellow,  and  rather  a 
sandy  soil  to  be  sweetest.  (January,  1830.) 

[TAXES   ARE    HIGH.] 

My  old  friends  and  worthy  patrons,  it  is  pleasant  once  more 
to  come  among  you,  and  to  salute  you  with  the  cordiality  of 
long-established  friendship.  Toil  and  care,  and  occasional  per- 
plexities, may  wrinkle  our  brows  and  grizzle  our  locks,  but  our 
employment  never  tends  to  sour  our  tempers  or  cause  any  uncouth 
greetings.  We  drive  our  teams  with  merry  hearts,  and  every 
thing  pertaining  to  our  occupation  inculcates  a  spirit  of  gratitude 
and  thanksgiving.  In  the  sweat  of  the  brow,  to  be  sure,  we  toil 
for  the  pittance  which  Providence  awards  to  industry ;  but  this 
labour  and  exercise  also  bring  health  of  both  body  and  mind. 
When  winter,  with  its  iron  jaws,  clinches  upon  the  face  of  nature, 
shuts  every  pore,  and  arrests  the  process  of  vegetation,  we  are  not 
without  our  innocent  employments  and  rational  enjoyments.  We 
sit  not  in  moping  melancholy,  growling  and  snarling,  like  angry 
mastiffs,  at  the  prosperity  of  industrious  neighbours ;  neither  do 
we  churlishly  retort  to  a  goodnatured  and  gentle  salute  of  "  How 
fare  ye,  Mr.  Ploughbeam  ?  "  We  indeed  would  use  the  whole 
passing  world,  as  well  as  ourselves,  without  abuse  ;  knowing  that 
in  a  little  while  we  must  depart.  Why  then  should  we  not  try  to 
be  happy?  "Ah,  well,"  says  old  Pinchback,  "you  preach  curi- 
ously, but  taxes  are  darn'd  high."  (January,  1832.) 


WIT  AND   WISDOM   OF  THE   FARMER'S   CALENDAR      93 


[THE   CATTLE   SHOW.] 

This  is  the  month  for  cattle  shows,  and  other  agricultural  ex- 
hibitions —  Premiums  are  offered  by  various  societies  for  the 
greatest  crops ;  the  best  stock,  and  the  best  domestic  manufac- 
tures, and  thousands  are  pulling  away  for  the  'prize,  with  all  their 
might. 

The  great  Bull  of  Farmer  Lumpkins    is  a  nosuch  ! 

Peter  Nibble  has  raised  a  monstrous  field  of  white  beans ! 

Jo  Lucky's  acre  of  corn  has  seven  stout  ears  to  the  stalk ! 

Dolly  Dilligence  has  outstript  all  in  the  bonnet  line  ! 

Tabitha  Twistem's  hearth  rug  is  up  to  all  Market-street  ! 

The  Linsey-Woolsey  Manufacturing  Company  have  made  the 
finest  piece  of  satinet  that  ever  mortals  set  eyes  on  ! 

There  is  the  widow  Clacket's  heifer,  she  is  to  be  driven  ! 

And,  O,  if  you  could  only  see  'Squire  Trulliber's  great  boar ! 
They  say  it  is  as  big  as  a  full  grown  rhinoceros  ! 

Huzza,  huzza  for  the  premiums  !  Here  's  to  the  girl  that  can 
best  darn  a  stocking,  and  to  the  lad  that  shall  raise  the  biggest 
pumpkin!  (October,  1824.) 

[THE    BAKER.] 

Hark !  't  is  the  jingle  of  the  baker's  bells.  Hot  bread,  who 
buys?  Have  a  care  now,  Mr.  Sweetmouth,  how  you  let  this  bill 
run  up.  Wheat  loaves,  gingerbread,  hot  buns  and  seed-cakes  — 
these  are  all  very  clever.  But  there  is  my  aunt  Sarah's  brown 
bread,  sweet,  pleasant  and  wholesome  ;  don't  give  it  up  for  a 
cartload  of  muffins  and  jumbles.  There  is  no  discount  on  my 
aunt  Sarah's  cooking ;  she  is  the  personification  of  neatness  and 
nicety.  Give  me  a  plate  of  her  nutcakes  in  preference  to  all  the 
sweetmeats  of  the  city.  It  has  become  somewhat  fashionable  to 
cast  off  old  Rye-and- Indian  for  Genesee,  Howard-street,  &c.  — also 
to  give  up  heating  the  oven.  I  imagine  that  this  change  is  vastly 
convenient  for  the  shoe-peggers.  "  Tell  the  baker  he  may  leave 
us  half  a  dozen  of  his  three  cent  biscuit,"  said  Mrs.  Crispin.  Now 


94  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

three  times  six  are  eighteen,  and  eighteen  times  365  are  $65.70  — 
whew  !  This  will  never  do.  In  our  haste  to  get  rich,  we  must 
look  at  both  ends  of  the  railcut.  Bread  is  denominated  the  staff 
of  life,  the  main  supporting  food ;  but  this  so  important  article 
may,  as  well  as  a  whistle,  come  too  dear.  Let  your  good  wife, 
then,  have  her  own  hands  in  the  kneading  trough,  nor  heed  too 
much  the  morning  music  of  the  baker's  boy.  (May,  1837.) 

In  1813  the  whole  of  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  three 
months  (October  to  December)  is  occupied  by  a  continu- 
ous narrative  sketch :  — 

My  neighbor  Freeport  had  a  knack  at  telling  a  story,  cracking 
a  joke  and  singing  a  song,  and  these  talents  made  him  a  favourite 
of  his  townsmen.  Every  town  meeting  and  training  was  sure 
to  gather  round  him  a  crowd  of  jovial  fellows,  and  my  neighbour 
pretty  soon  added  to  his  other  acquisitions  that  of  handsomely 
swigging  a  glass  of  grog.  The  demands  for  stories,  jokes  and 
songs  encreased  with  the  reward  he  received  for  them ;  and 
Freeport  had  not  a  heart  to  refuse  either,  till  the  tavern  became 
his  common  resort.  But  while  Freeport  was  so  musical  at  the 
tavern  his  affairs  got  out  of  tune  at  home.  His  wife  took  a  high 
pitch,  and  often  gave  him  an  unwelcome  solo.  Her  stories  had 
much  of  pith,  and  her  sarcasms  were  of  the  keenest  sort.  She 
insisted  that  their  affairs  were  going  to  rack  and  ruin.  Some- 
times the  neighbour's  cattle  had  broken  into  the  corn  —  the 
rye  had  been  ruined  by  laying  out  in  the  storm  —  the  hogs  had 
broken  in  and  rooted  up  the  garden  —  the  hay  was  half  lost  for 
want  of  attention  —  the  fences  were  broken  down,  &c.  &c.  And 
then  the  children  —  (October.) 

Alas  !  the  poor  children  were  shoeless,  coatless  and  heartless ; 
for  they  had  become  the  scoff  and  sport  of  their  little  companions 
by  reason  of  their  father's  neglect  to  provide  them  with  decent 
and  comfortable  apparel.  They  were  unable  to  read,  for  they 
had  no  books.  The  sheep  —  here  the  poor  woman  sorely  wept 
—  were  sold  by  the  collector  to  pay  taxes.  So  there  was  no 
chance  for  any  wool  to  knit  the  children's  stockings.  No  flax 


WIT   AND   WISDOM   OF  THE   FARMER'S    CALENDAR      95 

had  been  raised,  and  of  course  they  could  have  no  shirts.  To 
hear  all  this  and  ten  times  more  was  not  very  welcome  to  the  ears 
of  Freeport,  whose  heart  was  naturally  tender  and  humane,  so  to 
get  rid  of  it,  he  used  to  return  to  the  tavern  like  a  sow  to  her 
wallowing.  His  shop  bills  run  up  fast,  while  his  character  was 
running  down.  In  this  way  he  went  on  about  two  years,  till  old 
Scrapewell  and  Screwpenny  got  his  farm ;  for  all  this  time  these 
usurers  had  been  lending  him  money,  and  thus  encouraging  him 
to  pursue  this  dreadful  course.  (November.) 

Old  Capt.  Gripe  also  came  in  for  a  share  of  poor  Freeport's 
estate ;  and  there  was  Plunket,  the  cobler,  he  had  lent  him  nine 
pence  several  times  and  now  had  cobbled  it  up  to  a  court  de- 
mand. Bob  Raikins  had  swapped  watches  with  him,  and  came 
in  for  the  boot.  The  widow  Nippet  had  lent  him  her  mare  twice 
to  mill  and  once  to  a  funeral,  and  had  sold  the  boys  an  old  tow 
jacket  for  a  peck  of  whortleberries,  and  also  given  them  a  mess  of 
turnips,  and  so  she  made  out  her  account  and  got  a  writ.  Tom 
Teazer,  well  known  at  the  grog  shops  for  a  dabster  at  shoemaker 
loo,  old  Jeremiah  Jenkins,  the  Jew,  Stephen  Staball,  the  butcher, 
and  all  the  village  moon-cursers  came  in  for  their  portion  of  the 
wreck.  So  poor  Freeport  gave  up  vessel  and  cargo  to  these  land 
pirates,  sent  his  disconsolate  wife  again  to  her  father  with  one  of 
their  babes,  the  rest  were  provided  for  by  the  town ;  and  as  for 
himself,  miserable  wretch,  he  became  an  outcast,  a  vagabond, 
and  died  drunk  in  the  highway  !  (December.) 

There  is  undeniable  merit  in  this  unpretentious  narrative. 
It  is  somewhat  crude,  to  be  sure,  but  any  attempt  at  polish 
would  have  defeated  the  author's  purpose.  The  tragedy 
is  humble,  and  even  sordid,  but  it  is  complete  and  unspar- 
ing ;  it  moves  forward  pitilessly  to  the  bitter  end  with  the 
steadiness  of  fate.  Some  of  the  details  are  hardly  suscep- 
tible of  improvement.  The  matter-of-fact  brutality  of  poor 
Freeport's  petty  creditors  is  a  fine  piece  of  vigorous  realism. 
What  could  be  better  in  its  way  than  the  single  brief 
sentence  which  pillories  the  village  sharper :  "  Bob 


96  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Raikins  had  swapped  watches  with  him,  and  came  in  for 
the  boot "  !  It  is  a  masterpiece  of  suggestive  reticence. 

The  secret  of  Mr.  Thomas's  success  in  this  little  story  is 
easy  to  discover:  he  was  not  trying  to  be  "  literary  ";  he 
was  writing  of  what  he  had  seen  and  known.  The  contrast 
is  striking  between  the  Tragedy  of  Neighbor  Freeport, 
hidden  away  in  the  Farmer's  Calendar,  and  the  attempts  at 
formal  story-writing  familiar  to  the  student  of  American 
letters  in  the  columns  of  the  literary  journals  of  the  time. 

One  or  two  points  in  the  sketch  may  require  a  word 
of  comment.  "  Shoemaker  loo"  was  a  round  game  at 
cards.  How  it  differed  from  ordinary  loo  does  not  appear. 
"  Moon-curser"  is  not  in  the  dictionaries,  but  it  ought  to 
be,  for  it  is  a  highly  picturesque  and  imaginative  word. 
A  moon-curser  is  a  wrecker.  Of  that  there  is  no  doubt, 
for  the  term  is  still  in  use  on  Cape  Cod,  and  probably 
elsewhere.  Its  origin  is  conjectural,  but  admits  of  little 
doubt.  The  old-time  wrecker  was  not  an  angel  of  mercy. 
To  him,  as  to  the  witches  in  Macbeth,  fair  was  foul  and  foul 
was  fair.  Darkness  and  storm  were  his  opportunities,  and 
he  cursed  the  moon,  whose  light  deprived  him  of  his  chance 
for  plunder.  Another  application  of  the  term  may  be 
seen  in  Richard  Head's  Canting  Academy,  1673 :  — 

The  Moon  Curser  is  generally  taken  for  any  Link-Boy ;  but 
particularly  he  is  one  that  waits  at  some  Corner  of  Lincolns-Inn- 
Fields  with  a  Link  in  his  hand,  who  under  the  pretence  of  Light- 
ing you  over  the  Fields,  being  late  and  few  stiring,  shall  light  you 
into  a  Pack  of  Rogues  that  wait  for  the  comming  of  this  Setter, 
and  so  they  will  all  joyne  in  the  Robbery. 

Some  of  these  were  found  to  be  Labourers  so  called,  such  who 
wrought  all  day  in  the  Ruins  of  the  City  and  were  paid  by  their 
Master  Workmen,  and  at  night  found  an  easier  way  to  pay  them- 
selves by  lying  in  the  Ruins,  and  as  they  saw  occasion  would 
drag  in  people  into  Vaults  and  Cellars  and  there  rob  them.1 

1  P.  101. 


WIT  AND  WISDOM  OF  THE  FARMER'S  CALENDAR   97 

One  is  tempted  to  go  on  indefinitely  with  the  Old 
Farmer's  sketches  of  life  and  manners,  and  the  stock  is 
by  no  means  exhausted,  but  enough  has  been  quoted  to 
show  not  only  their  literary  interest  but  their  significance 
for  the  student  of  social  conditions  in  New  England. 


LAWYERS   AND   QUACKS 

"  r  •  AHE  best  houses  in  Connecticut  are  inhabited  by 
lawyers,"  wrote  Henry  Wansey  in  I794-1  Here 
was  a  great  change  from  the  state  of  things 
when  Thomas  Lechford  found  it  so  hard  to  practise  his 
profession  in  Boston  that  he  was  constrained  to  warn  the 
colonists  not  to  "  despise  learning,  nor  the  worthy  lawyers 
of  either  gown  (civil  or  ecclesiastical),  lest  you  repent 
too  late."  2  But  there  were  corners  of  New  England  in 
which  the  old  order  long  maintained  itself,  and  one  of 
these  was  West  Boylston,  the  home  of  Mr.  Thomas. 
When,  in  1826,  the  local  minister,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Crosby, 
wrote  his  brief  history  of  the  town  for  the  Worcester 
Magazine,  he  remarked  that  there  were  three  justices  of 
the  peace,  one  of  them  being  Mr.  Thomas  himself,  but 
that  they  had  little  to  do  and  that  there  was  no  resident 
man  of  law.3 

It  was  natural,  then,  as  well  as  sensible,  for  the  Almanac 
to  bid  its  readers  beware  of  litigation.  "  I  would  not  run 
to  'Squire  Fraylove,"  says  Mr.  Thomas  in  the  Farmer's 
Calendar  for  April,  1815,  "at  every  petty  dispute  with  a 
troublesome  neighbour.  You  will  be  sure  to  be  advised 
to  a  suit,  and  then  comes  business  enough."  And  still 
earlier,  in  December,  1810,  after  a  hearty  commendation 

1  Journal  of  an  Excursion  to  the  United  States  of  North  America  in  the 
Summer  of  1794,  Salisbury,  1796,  p.  70. 

2  Plaine  Dealing,  1642,  p.  28;  ed.  Trumbull,  p.  68. 

8  Worcester  Magazine  and  Historical  Journal,  August,  1826,  II,  201. 
West  Boylston  was  set  off  from  Sterling  and  Boylston  in  1808  (cf.  pp.  4-5, 
above). 


LAWYERS   AND   QUACKS  99 

of  married  life,  the  farmer's  counsellor  has  a  sly  fling  at 
the  legal  profession :  — 

Now  having  been  industrious  in  the  summer,  you  will  have  the 
felicity  of  retiring  from  the  turbulence  of  the  storm  to  the  bosom 
of  your  family.  Here  is  divine  employment.  Surely  if  happiness 
can  any  where  be  found  on  earth,  't  is  in  the  sweet  enjoyment  of 
the  fireside,  surrounded  by  a  domestic  throng  —  a  lovely  wife  and 
prattling  babes.  Ye  cold  and  barren  fens  of  celibacy,  behold 
the  delightful  regions  of  matrimony  !  Leave  your  frigid  abodes, 
and  come  and  dwell  in  society,  and  taste  the  rational  pleasures  of 
a  connubial  state.  Lawyers  gowns  are  lined  with  the  wilfulness 
of  their  clients.  Then  let  us  be  accommodating  and  not  run  to 
the  lawyer  at  every  little  offence.  An  honest  and  upright  attorney 
is  an  advantage  to  a  town ;  but  one  that  is  ready  to  set  his  neigh- 
bors at  variance  to  govern  a  few  thereby  is  a  pest  to  society. 
'T  is  not  likely  that  we  have  many  of  the  last  description  in  New 
England  as  we  have  so  very  small  a  number  in  the  whole. 

The  distinction  between  honest  attorneys  and  petti- 
foggers is  clearly  made,  but  the  closing  sentence  ingeni- 
ously takes  back  a  large  portion  of  the  compliment  that 
precedes  it.  Yet  it  is  clear  that  Mr.  Thomas  made  a  sharp 
distinction  between  reputable  men  of  law  and  pretenders. 
Of  the  latter  there  seem  to  have  been  a  good  many  in 
the  country  districts.  John  Adams,  in  1760,  speaks  of 
"  the  multiplicity  of  pettifoggers  "  in  Braintree,  which  had 
become  proverbial  for  litigation,  and  specifies  one  "  Cap- 
tain H.,"  who,  he  says,  "  has  given  out  that  he  is  a  sworn 
attorney  till  nine  tenths  of  this  town  really  believe  it."  1 

In  December,  1818,  Mr.  Thomas  varies  his  usual  advice 
to  settle  up  the  year's  accounts  by  introducing  some 
reflections  on  going  to  law:  — 

Now  prepare  your  papers  and  make  it  a  business  to  go  round 
and  settle  with  all  your  neighbours  with  whom  you  have  accounts 

1   Works,  ed.  C.  F.  Adams,  Boston,  1850,  II,  90-91. 


IOO         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

open.  Avoid  wrangling  and  law  fighting.  It  is  never  worth 
your  while  to  go  to  law  at  the  expense  of  $500  about  nine  pence ; 
but  should  you  ever  be  forced  into  a  law  suit,  take  the  advice  of 
respectable  counsel  and  then  keep  your  tongue  within  your  teeth. 
If  you  foolishly  blab  your  case  to  your  neighbours  they  will  all, 
men,  women  and  children,  become  prodigiously  wise  and  know- 
ing. They  will  talk  law  at  a  great  rate,  and  distress  you  with 
their  wisdom. 

Five  kinds  of  pestilence  are  associated  in  a  single  prayer 
for  immunity  in  August,  1813  :  — 

From  quack  lawyers,  quack  doctors,  quack  preachers,  mad 
dogs  and  yellow  fever,  good  Lord,  deliver  us !  This  is  my 
sincere  prayer,  let  others  do  and  say  as  they  will.  A  respectable 
attorney  is  an  advantage  to  a  town  and  ought  to  have  the  esteem 
of  his  fellow  citizens ;  but  a  meddlesome  pettifogger  deserves  the 
treatment  of  any  other  sneaking  puppy  that  runs  his  nose  into 
your  closet.  As  for  strolling  preachers,  '  O  ye  generation  of 
vipers  ' !  I  would  hear  any  evil  far  better  than  the  gabble  of  one 
of  these  intruding  boobies.  Yet  how  many  forsake  all  business 
and  pleasure  that  they  may  enjoy  the  ecstatic  bliss  of  listening 
to  their  empty  disgusting  and  blasphemous  nonsense  !  It  is  a 
serious  misfortune  to  have  a  woman,  a  head  of  a  family,  yet  be- 
witched by  one  of  these  fellows.  Whenever  this  happens,  farewell 
to  all  business,  to  all  comfort !  No  more  dairy,  no  more  spinning 
or  weaving  or  knitting  or  sewing.  Forenoon,  afternoon  and 
evening  nothing  but  attending  lectures  to  hear  the  charming,  the 
pious,  the  godly  Mr.  Bitemslily  —  totally  regardless  of  that  text 
of  the  sacred  volume  which  says  'six  days  shalt  thou  labour  and 
do  all  thy  work.' 

For  physicians  and  ministers,  as  well  as  for  upright 
attorneys,  Mr.  Thomas  had  plenty  of  respect,  but  he  could 
not  abide  a  charlatan.  Quack  doctors  come  in  elsewhere 
for  some  rather  slashing  satire.  Thus  in  September,  1806, 
we  read  :  —  "  There  are  a  great  many  asses  without  long  ears. 


LAWYERS   AND   QUACKS  IOI 

Quack,  Quack,  went  the  ducks,  as  doctor  Motherwort  rode 
by  with  his  saddle-bags  stuffed  with  maiden-hair,  and 
golden-rod.  Don't  let  your  wife  send  Tommy  to  the 
academy  six  weeks,  and  make  a  novice  of  him." 

And  in  September,  1813,  there  is  a  drastic  description 
of  "  the  famous  Dr.  Dolt " :  "A  larnt  man  is  the  doctor. 
Once  he  was  a  simple  knight  of  the  lapstone  and  pegging 
awl ;  but  now  he  is  blazoned  in  the  first  orders  of  quack 
heraldry.  The  mighty  cures  of  the  doctor  are  known  far 
round.  He  is  always  sure  to  kill  the  disorder,  although  in 
effecting  this  he  sometimes  kills  the  patient." 

An  agreeable  and  ingenuous  letter  addressed  to  Mr. 
Thomas  in  1801,  by  an  esteemed  correspondent  in  Franklin, 
Massachusetts,  called  out  a  comparison  not  very  flattering 
to  the  legal  profession.  The  writer  is  worried  by  the  ap- 
parent neglect  to  answer  certain  questions  proposed  in  the 
Almanac  five  years  before.  He  expostulates  with  the  editor 
in  a  strain  of  dignified  forbearance,  and  improves  the  occa- 
sion to  commend  the  work  highly.  His  letter  was  printed 
in  the  Almanac  for  1802,  with  a  full  reply  to  each  of  the 
problems.  The  reader  will  remember  that  both  millers 
and  tailors  had,  in  old  times,  a  reputation  for  pilfering. 

MR.  THOMAS, 

In  looking  over  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for  the  year  1796,  I 
there  found  four  Miscellaneous  Questions,  viz.  ist.  Whether  the 
Sun  goes  round  the  earth  and  the  earth  stands  still  ?&c.  2dlv. 
Which  is  counted  the  most  honest  employment  of  the  three  fol- 
owing,  viz.  a  Tailor,  a  Lawyer,  or  a  Miller?  3dly.  Whether 
the  Shrub  commonly  called  Fern,  bears  or  produces  any  seed  ? 
&c.  4thly.  How  long  it  is  since  smoking  tobacco,  and  taking 
of  snuff,  has  been  in  use  in  England ;  the  time  when  ?  &c. 

Now,  SIR,  I  have  been  a  constant  patron  of  your  Almanack, 
and  have  waited  in  anxious  expectations  these  four  years  last 
past,  of  seeing  answers  to  the  above  questions,  but  have  ever 
been  disappointed ;  I  would  not  be  misunderstood,  SIR,  that  you 


102  THE   OLD    FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

intended  to  deceive  your  patrons,  or  to  cast  any  reflections  on 
your  ability  to  answer  them,  for  the  precepts  and  observations 
you  have  given  in  your  preceding  numbers  thoroughly  demonstrate 
your  knowledge  of  natural  philosophy ;  but  rather  to  some  acci- 
dent they  have  slipped  your  memory. 

I  must  say  I  have  been  highly  pleased  with  your  Almanack, 
and  posterity  anticipate  your  further  usefulness  as  a  man  of  read- 
ing and  observation.  I  doubt  not  but  that  your  Almanack  will 
very  soon  exceed  in  circulation  any  other  published  in  the  United 
States,  and  I  may  venture1  to  say,  without  flattery,  it  now  is  equal 
to  any  in  estimation.  Therefore,  SIR,  I  humbly  hope,  that  in 
your  next  number  (viz.  X.)  I  shall  see  your  answers  to  the  above 
questions. 

I  am,  Sir,  with  sincere  Esteem, 

Your  must  humble  Servant, 
Franklin,  March  10,  1801.  S.  H. 

ANSWERS. 

To  the  MISCELLANEOUS  QUESTIONS  in  the  FARMER'S 
ALMANACK  for  the  Year  1796. 

Answer  to  Question  ist.  —  I  AGREE  with  the  best  modern 
astronomers,  that  the  Sun  is  an  immoveable  centre,  round  which 
the  planets  (of  which  the  earth  is  one)  move  by  different  revolu- 
tions. But  the  figure,  which  the  earth  annually  describes,  is  not 
circular,  but  elliptical  or  oval ;  which  is  the  reason  why  it  does 
not  continue  equidistant  from  the  Sun.  But  as  once  a  year  it 
travels  round  the  Sun,  so  in  the  compass  of  24  hours  it  moves 
round  its  own  axis ;  whence  arises  the  alternate  succession  of 
day  and  night. 

zd.  —  Fie!  join  a  lawyer  with  such  company;  they  hold  no 
comparison  with  each  other  !  I  know  what  you  '11  say,  that  the 
miller's  clacks,  and  the  lawyer's  clacks  are  in  perpetual  motion, 
with  the  like  sound  and  sense ;  and  that  as  the  first  grinds  down 
your  corn,  the  other  grinds  down  the  land  it  grows  upon.  But 
then  the  lawyer  is  in  a  fair  way  to  break  the  miller.  You  may 
urge  too,  that  the  tailor  and  lawyer  equally  ruin  you  with  their 


LAWYERS   AND   QUACKS  1 03 

long  bills ;  but  then,  consider,  the  tailor's  bill  is  full  of  fustian- 
nonsense,  scrolls,  blots,  and  repetitions  of  the  same  things,  differ- 
ently placed,  and,  by  consequence,  not  worthy  your  understanding  ; 
whilst  your  lawyer,  in  his  cramp  law  terms,  is  as  much  above  your 
understanding,  and  therefore  preferable  :  and  tho'  you  know  not 
what  you  give  your  money  for  to  either,  yet,  certainly,  any  would 
give  more  for  a  parcel  of  fine  significant  words,  than  for  so  many 
false  spelt  blunders.  'T  is  true,  they  both  furnish  you  with  suits ; 
but  which  is  the  best  workman,  the  tailor,  who  must  have  matter 
to  work  upon,  or  the  lawyer,  who  can  make  a  long  suit  out  of 
nothing?  Your  tailor's  suit  is  gone  in  half  a  year,  but  the  lawyer's 
will  last  often  to  your  posterity;  suppose  he  hurries  you  out  of 
breath  upon  a  wrong  scent,  yet  then  he  will  give  you  time  by  a 
writ  of  error  or  demurrer,  to  recover  yourself,  and  keep  in  fast 
friendship  to  you  whilst  you  have  the  strength  of  one  fee  left. 
And  though  he  runs  some  out  of  their  estates,  he  often  gives  to 
others  other  people's  estates,  which  is  yet  some  compensation. 
Say,  he  then  manages  the  cause  accordingly,  which  is  something 
analogical  to  equity ;  nay,  put  the  worst,  that  you  are  quite  ruined  ; 
he  tells  you  it  comes  from  your  own  mis-informing  of  him,  which, 
whether  you  apprehend  or  not,  you  ought  to  believe,  as  supposing 
he  best  understands  what  belongs  to  his  own  business.  Now 
your  miller  and  tailor  are  by  no  means  capacitated  for  such  fine 
qualifications  as  these. 

The  replies  to  the  third  and  fourth  questions  need  not 
be  reprinted,  since  they  are  less  interesting  nowadays  than 
they  were  in  1802. 

We  may  close  this  brief  chapter  with  a  quotation  from 
the  diary  of  Dr.  Nathaniel  Ames  the  younger,  himself  a 
composer  of  almanacs,  which  belongs  to  this  same  year:  — 

A  Lawyer  in  every  man's  mess  here,  nothing  will  go  with  Fools 
without  a  Lawyer,  but  from  good  company  they  are  excluded  ! 
or  if  they  get  in,  they  spoil  it.1 

1  April  3,  1802,  Dedham  Historical  Register,  XI,  103. 


THE   TOAD   AND   THE   SPIDER 


H 


ERE  is  an  item  of  natural  history  from  Rhode 
Island.  It  is  extracted  from  the  Almanac  for 
1798:  — 


A  TOAD  was  seen  fighting  with  a  spider  in  Rhode-Island ; 
and  when  the  former  was  bit,  it  hopped  to  a  plantain  leaf,  bit  off 
a  piece,  and  then  engaged  with  the  spider  again.  After  this  had 
been  repeated  sundry  times,  a  spectator  pulled  up  the  plantain, 
and  put  it  out  of  the  way.  The  toad,  on  being  bit  again,  jumped 
to  where  the  plantain  had  stood ;  and  as  it  was  not  to  be  found, 
she  hopped  round  several  times,  turned  over  on  her  back,  swelled 
up,  and  died  immediately.  This  is  an  evident  demonstration 
that  the  juice  of  the  plantain  is  an  antidote  against  the  bites  of 
those  venomous  insects.1 

Nothing  could  be  simpler  or  more  straightforward  than 
this  anecdote.  It  bears  every  appearance  of  being  a  mere 
bit  of  local  observation.  Yet  there  is  a  good  deal  to  be 
learned  about  the  story,  for  it  turns  out,  on  examination, 
to  be  a  variant  of  a  widespread  piece  of  legendary  lore. 
Van  Helmont,  the  great  Flemish  chemist  and  medical 
reformer,  who  died  in  1644,  may  be  summoned  as  the 
first  witness.  In  his  treatise  on  the  Plague  he  tells  almost 
exactly  the  same  tale,  on  the  authority  of  a  noble  lady  of 
his  acquaintance :  - 

1  Plantain,  by  the  way,  is  said  by  Josselyn,  in  his  New  England's  Rarities 
Discovered,  1672,  to  be  one  of  the  herbs  that  "  have  sprung  up  since  the 
English  planted  and  kept  cattle  in  New  England."  The  Indians,  he  tells  us, 
call  it  "  Englishman's  foot ,  as  though  produced  by  their  treading  "  (ed. 
Tuckerman,  p.  217). 


THE  TOAD   AND   THE   SPIDER  105 

And  indeed  the  Lady  of  Rommerswal  Toparchesse  in  Ecchove, 
a  noble,  affined,  and  honest  Matron,  related  to  me  in  candour  of 
spirit,  that  she  once  beheld  a  duel  between  a  Spider,  and  a  Toad, 
for  a  whole  afternoon  :  For  this,  when  he  felt  himself  to  be  stricken 
by  the  Spider  descending  from  above,  and  that  he  was  presently 
swollen  in  his  head,  he  runs  to  an  herb  which  he  licked,  and 
being  most  speedily  cured,  his  swelling  asswaged ;  from  whence  he 
setting  upon  a  repeated  fight,  was  again  also  smitten  in  his  head, 
and  hastened  unto  the  same  herb  ;  And  when  as  the  thing  had  now 
the  third  time  happened,  the  Spectatresse  being  tired,  cut  off  the 
Plant  with  her  knife  (but  it  was  the  Plantain  with  a  narrow  leaf) 
and  when  as  the  Toad  returned  thither  the  fourth  time,  and  found 
not  the  herb,  he  most  speedily  swelled  all  over,  and  being  sore 
smitten  with  terrour,  presently  died  :  But  he  betook  not  himself 
unto  the  neighboring  plants  of  the  same  Plantain,  and  those 
frequently  growing  (for  the  image  of  the  conception  of  fear,  and 
sorrow,  produceth  a  speedy  death,  the  hope  of  a  most  speedy 
remedy  perisheth  in  a  most  furious  disease)  for  when  he  found 
not  his  own  Plantain,  he  who  before  encountred  from  a  hope  of 
presently  recovering,  forthwith  despairing  through  fear  and  an 
idea  of  terrour,  died.1 

Van  Helmont  explains  the  remissness  of  the  toad  in 
accordance  with  his  peculiar  system  of  medical  philosophy, 
but  his  narrative  coincides  in  almost  every  particular  with 
the  report  from  Rhode  Island. 

From  Flanders  we  may  pass  to  England.  There  the  duel 
between  the  Toad  and  the  Spider  received  poetical  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  Richard  Lovelace,  whose  studies 
were  not  of  a  kind  to  acquaint  him  with  Van  Helmont's 
dissertation.  The  piece  in  question  was  first  published  in 
1659,  but  was  written  some  time  before.2  It  begins  with 
all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  an  epic. 

1  Tumulus  Pestis,  or  the  Plague-Grave,  chap.  17,  in  Physick  Refined,  trans- 
lated by  John  Chandler,  London,  1662,  p.  1151. 

2  Posthume  Poems,  1659;  see  Lovelace's  Poems,  ed.  Hazlitt,  pp.  199  ff. 


io6      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Upon  a  day  when  the  Dog-star 
Unto  the  world  proclaim'd  a  war, 
And  poyson  bark'd  from  his  black  throat, 
And  from  his  jaws  infection  shot, 
Under  a  deadly  hen-bane  shade 
With  slime  infernal  mists  are  made, 
Met  the  two  dreaded  enemies, 
Having  their  weapons  in  their  eyes. 

After  some  skirmishing  the  Toad  is  bitten  by  the  Spider: 

And  wounded  now,  apace  crawls  on 

To  his  next  plantane  surgeon ; 

With  whose  rich  balm  no  sooner  drest, 

But  purged  is  his  sick  swoln  breast ; 

And  as  a  glorious  combatant, 

That  only  rests  awhile  to  pant, 

Then  with  repeated  strength,  and  scars, 

That  smarting,  fire  him  to  new  wars, 

Deals  blows  that  thick  themselves  prevent, 

As  they  would  gain  the  time  he  spent : 

So  the  disdaining  angry  toad, 

That  calls  but  a  thin  useless  load 

His  fatal  feared  self,  comes  back, 

With  unknown  venome  fill'd  to  crack. 

Thus  the  combat  is  renewed.  Bitten  again,  the  Toad 
returns  to  seek  his  antidote.  But  his  opponent  has  a 
divine  ally,  —  no  less  a  personage  than  the  goddess  Pallas, 
whose  interest  in  the  struggle  will  not  seem  unnatural  if 
we  remember  the  myth  of  Arachne,  charmingly  told  by 
Ovid  in  the  sixth  book  of  his  Metamorphoses.  The 
Lydian  maiden  Arachne,  proud  of  her  skill  in  weaving, 
had  presumed  to  challenge  Pallas  herself  to  a  match  and 
had  produced  a  web  which  even  the  goddess  could  not 
surpass.  Pallas  tore  the  fabric  to  pieces  and  smote  her 
audacious  rival  on  the  forehead.  Arachne  hanged  herself, 
but  the  goddess  pitied  her  and  forbade  her  dying.  She 
transformed  Arachne  into  a  spider,  and  in  that  shape  the 


THE  TOAD   AND   THE   SPIDER  IO/ 

Lydian  damsel  still  practises  her  art.  No  wonder,  then, 
that  Pallas  intervened  in  this  duel  as  she  did  on  a  memo- 
rable occasion  in  the  Trojan  War.  She  summoned  the 
Spider's  protecting  genius,  and  sent  him  to  the  plantain  :  — 

He  learned  was  in  Nature's  laws, 
Of  all  her  foliage  knew  the  cause, 
And  'mongst  the  rest  in  his  choice  want 
Unplanted  had  this  plantane  plant. 

So  the  Toad  died,  "  with  a  dismal  horrid  yell." 

From  literature  we  may  turn  to  science,  and  call  in  the 
evidence  of  an  expert  who  had  not  only  considered  the 
question  seriously,  but  had  put  its  truth  to  a  test  that 
seems  practically  decisive.  This  investigator  is  Sir  Thomas 
Browne,  the  learned  physician  of  Norwich  (1605-1682).  In 
his  Vulgar  Errors,  Sir  Thomas  devotes  a  whole  chapter1 
to  the  Toad,  discussing  not  only  its  venomous  quality,  but 
also  the  precious  jewel  which,  according  to  Shakspere,  it 
bears  in  its  head.  In  another  passage  of  the  same  work  z 
he  treats  of  the  common  belief  in  "  the  antipathy  between 
a  toad  and  a  spider  "  and  of  the  assertion  "  that  they  poison- 
ously  destroy  each  other."  He  could  be  well  content  to 
know  the  facts  about  these  duels,  since  such  knowledge 
might  provide  us  with  valuable  antidotes.  "  But,"  he  adds 
regretfully,  "  what  we  have  observed  herein,  we  cannot  in 
reason  conceal ;  who  having  in  a  glass  included  a  toad 
with  several  spiders,  we  beheld  the  spiders,  without  resist- 
ance to  sit  upon  his  head  and  pass  over  all  his  body; 
which  at  last  upon  advantage  he  swallowed  down,  and  that 
in  few  hours,  unto  the  matter  of  seven." 

As  we  bid  farewell  to  the  famous  Duel  of  the  Toad  and 
the  Spider,  we  may  pause  to  note  another  New  England 
combat,  less  widely  notorious,  but  perhaps  more  strictly 
historical.  It  is  recorded  as  occurring  in  Massachusetts 

1  Book  iii,  chap.  13.  2  Book  iii,  chap.  27,  §  6. 


io8      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

in  1632,  only  two  years  after  the  settlement  of  Boston. 
As  we  read  the  account  of  it  which  Governor  Winthrop 
gives  in  his  Journal,  we  shall  doubtless  wonder  what  deep 
significance  the  divines  of  the  early  colonial  period  would 
have  discovered  in  the  Rhode  Island  marvel  if  it  had 
happened  in  their  time:  — 

At  Watertown  there  was  (in  the  view  of  divers  witnesses)  a 
great  combat  between  a  mouse  and  a  snake ;  and,  after  a  long 
fight,  the  mouse  prevailed  and  killed  the  snake.  The  pastor  of 
Boston,  Mr.  Wilson,  a  very  sincere,  holy  man,  hearing  of  it,  gave 
this  interpretation  :  That  the  snake  was  the  devil ;  the  mouse  was 
a  poor  contemptible  people,  which  God  had  brought  hither,  which 
should  overcome  Satan  here,  and  dispossess  him  of  his  kingdom.1 

To  appreciate  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wilson's  interpretation  one 
must  remember  that  nobody  doubted  in  the  seventeenth 
century  that  the  Indians  worshipped  the  Devil.  Cotton 
Mather,  who  in  such  matters  was  but  the  child  of  his 
time,  held  that  the  American  continent  was  populated  by 
the  special  exertions  of  the  foul  fiend.  Satan,  he  con- 
tended, "  seduced  the  first  inhabitants  into  it"  in  order  to 
keep  them  and  their  posterity  "  out  of  the  sound  of  the 
silver  trumpets  of  the  Gospel."  2  And  he  quotes  a  con- 
verted sachem  as  declaring  that  he  had  "  often  employ'd 
his  god,  which  appear'd  to  him  in  form  of  a  snake,  to  kill, 
wound,  and  lame  such  whom  he  intended  mischief  to."  3 
As  late  as  1773,  so  enlightened  a  thinker  as  President 
Stiles  of  Yale  College  had  no  doubt  that  "  the  Powaws  of 
the  American  Indians  are  a  Relict  of  [the]  antient  System 
of  seeking  to  an  evil  invisible  Power."  "  Something  of  it," 
he  adds,  "  subsists  among  some  Almanack  Makers  [Note 
that  this  was  before  the  time  of  Mr.  Thomas  !]  and  Fortune 

1  Winthrop's  History,  ed.  Savage,  1853,  I,  97. 

2  Magnalia,  book  i,  chap,  i,  §  2,  ed.  1853,  I,  42. 
8  Magnalia,  book  vi,  chap,  vi,  §  3,  ed.  1853. 


THE   TOAD    AND   THE    SPIDER  109 

Tellers  .  .  .  But  in  general  the  System  is  broken  up,  the 
Vessel  of  Sorcery  shipwreckt,  and  only  some  shattered 
planks  and  pieces  disjoyned  floating  and  scattered  on  the 
Ocean  of  the  human  Activity  and  Bustle.  When  the  Sys- 
tem was  intire,  it  was  a  direct  seeking  to  Satan."  1 

There  was  nothing  peculiar  in  the  mental  attitude  of  the 
New  England  divines  toward  the  beliefs  of  the  American 
Indians.  It  had  always  been  the  theory  of  the  church  that 
the  heathen  everywhere  were  devil-worshippers,  and  that 
sorcery  and  pagan  sacrifices  were  but  different  varieties  of 
Satanic  ritual.  Every  reader  will  remember  that  the  fallen 
angels  are  described  by  Milton  as  masquerading  in  the 
guise  of  the  pagan  divinities  of  old  time,  and  in  this  idea  the 
poet  is  in  complete  accord  with  the  Greek  and  Latin  fathers. 
It  would  be  superfluous  to  multiply  seventeenth-century 
evidence,  but  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  call  in  the  testimony 
of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in  Canada.  Father  Lejeune,  in 
1635,  after  giving  an  account  of  a  Huron  medicine-woman, 
remarks  :  "  Thus  the  devil  beguiles  this  unfortunate  people, 
substituting  his  impieties  and  superstitions  for  the  con- 
formity that  they  ought  to  have  with  the  providence  of 
God  and  the  worship  that  they  ought  to  render  him."  2 
And  again,  the  medicine-men  "  are,  in  my  opinion,  genuine 
wizards,  having  access  to  the  devil." 3  Father  Jouvency 
identified  the  Manitou  of  the  Acadian  aborigines  "  beyond 
a  doubt  with  the  enemy  of  the  human  race."  4  And  Father 
Biard,  writing  from  Port  Royal,  declares  that  "  though  they 
have  a  kind  of  slender  knowledge  of  the  one  most  high  God, 
yet  they  are  so  depraved  in  sentiments  and  practice  that 
they  also  worship  the  devil."5 

To  Cotton  Mather  a  Jesuit  was  scarcely  less  an  object  of 

1  Diary,  June  13,  1773,  ed.  Dexter,  I,  385-6. 

2  Jesuit  Relations,  ed.  Thwaites,  VIII,  126. 

3  The  same,  VIII,  124. 

4  The  same,  I,  286. 
6  The  same,  II.  76. 


1 10  THE    OLD   FARMERS   ALMANACK 

horror  than  an  Indian  powwow,  and  Father  Lejeune  would 
doubtless  have  reciprocated  this  feeling  fully.  Yet  on  the 
point  of  belief  in  the  Satanic  character  of  the  Indian  worship 
neither  the  Boston  minister  nor  the  French  priest  could 
have  found  anything  objectionable  in  the  teachings  of  the 
other. 

It  was  this  idea  that  the  Indians  were  sorcerers  and  devil- 
worshippers  that  had  no  small  part  in  the  outbreak  of  super- 
stition known  as  the  Salem  Witchcraft  Delusion,  though 
the  causes  of  this  particular  tragedy  were  complex  enough. 
The  Indian  woman  Tituba  was  one  of  the  three  persons 
first  accused  of  the  crime,  and  her  admissions  were  of 
great  importance  to  the  prosecutors.  By  1793,  however, 
when  Mr.  Thomas  published  his  first  Almanac,  a  far  more 
rational  temper  prevailed  among  the  clergy.  In  1789  Dr. 
Jeremy  Belknap,  of  honored  memory,  who  had  been  read- 
ing Mather's  Magnalia,  wrote  to  his  friend  Hazard  in  terms 
of  humorous  good  sense  :  — 

Were  I  to  preach  on  the  subject  of  witchcraft,  I  would  have 
this  for  my  text :  "  O  foolish  Galatians  !  who  hath  bewitched  you  ?  " 
I  would  first  endeavour  to  show  that  people  may  be  bewitched ; 
secondly,  that  they  are  great  fools  for  being  bewitched ;  and, 
thirdly,  that  it  concerns  them  to  enquire  who  has  bewitched  them  ; 
and  my  inference  should  be,  if  there  were  no  fools,  there  would  be 
no  witchcraft ;  or  rather  I  would  transpose  the  second  and  third 
heads.  The  same  inference  would  come  out  better.1 

It  should  not  be  forgotten  that,  even  in  the  eighteenth 
century,  few  persons  were  absolutely  convinced  that  witch- 
craft was  an  impossible  crime.  Enlightened  opinion  hardly 
went  farther,  in  general,  than  to  ridicule  the  absurdity  of 
most  witchcraft  stories,  to  emphasize  the  ignorance  of 
those  who  held  to  the  old  popular  creed  in  this  regard, 

1  Belknap  Papers,  Coll^Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  5th  Series,  III,  205. 


THE  TOAD   AND   THE   SPIDER  III 

and  to  refuse  belief  to  this  or  that  specific  case  of  diaboli- 
cal possession.  An  out-and-out  denial  of  the  theoretical 
possibility  of  witchcraft  was  quite  a  different  matter.  Most 
people  were  inclined  to  think  that  there  had  been  witches 
"  in  old  times,"  -—  at  all  events,  "  in  Bible  times  "  ;  and  no- 
body felt  quite  sure  when  compacts  with  the  devil  had 
become  obsolete.  Rationalism  itself  often  turned  pale  at 
specific  phenomena,  as  indeed  it  sometimes  does  to-day. 

Reckless  denouncers  of  New  England  for  the  witchcraft 
delusion  of  the  seventeenth  century  forget  many  things  —  or 
never  knew  them.  The  wonder  is,  not  that  such  an  out- 
break should  have  taken  place,  but  that  it  should  have 
come  to  an  end  so  soon.  The  attack  was  as  short  as  it 
was  sharp ;  and  its  sharpness  was  by  no  means  extraordi- 
nary when  compared  with  the  violence  with  which  the 
disorder  raged  in  other  parts  of  the  world.  Few  persons 
have  the  time  or  the  inclination  to  explore  the  gloomy 
literature  of  demonology ;  but  it  is  not  too  much  to  ask  of 
the  historical  student,  or  even  of  the  general  reader,  that 
before  he  passes  judgment  on  his  ancestors  in  so  weighty  a 
matter,  he  should  make  an  attempt  to  put  himself  in  con- 
tact with  the  history  of  European  thought  and  with  the 
general  state  of  opinion  in  the  seventeenth  and  the  early 
eighteenth  century.  One  can  at  least  read  the  witch  stories 
in  the  supplement  to  the  Antidote  against  Atheism  of  Dr. 
Henry  More,  the  famous  Cambridge  Platonist,  and  in  the 
Triumph  over  the  Sadducees  l  of  Dr.  Joseph  Glanvil,  who 
was  chaplain  in  ordinary  to  King  Charles  II,  a  Fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society,  and  the  author  of  a  celebrated  treatise 
on  the  Vanity  of  Dogmatizing.  Glanvil's  witch-book  ap- 
peared in  a  fourth  edition  as  late  as  1726,  and  was  thought 
to  have  demolished  the  arguments  of  the  doubters. 

A  little  reading  of  this  kind  is  a  good  corrective  spice, 

1  Sadducismus  Triumphatus  is  the  title,  but  the  book  is  in  English.  It 
was  first  published  in  1681. 


n2      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

as  Lord  Bacon  would  have  called  it.  Our  whole  difficulty 
in  estimating  the  significance  of  the  troubles  at  Salem 
comes  from  lack  of  perspective.  They  make  a  great  noise 
in  the  annals  of  New  England,  and  we  find  it  hard  not  to 
think  of  them  as  something  monstrous  or  abnormal.  But 
they  were  neither.  Deplorable  as  the  witchcraft  persecu- 
tion was,  it  should  not  be  treated  hysterically  or  as  if  it 
were  an  isolated  phenomenon.  Here  were  the  New  Eng- 
landers  settled  on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness  and  in  daily 
contact  with  a  savage  race  whom  all  the  world  believed  to 
be  worshippers  of  Satan.  They  had  brought  from  Eng- 
land the  same  beliefs  in  the  intervention  of  the  devil  in 
human  affairs  that  everybody  held,  and  they  had  seen  no 
occasion  to  modify  them.  Nor  had  their  countrymen  who 
remained  at  home  in  England  suffered  any  change  of 
heart.  Is  it  reasonable  to  demand  from  the  New  Eng- 
landers,  lay  or  clerical,  exposed  as  they  were  to  peculiar 
terrors  in  a  wild  country,  a  degree  of  calm  rationality 
which  was  not  found  among  their  contemporaries  in  Eng- 
land "  who  sat  at  home  at  ease  "  ? 

There  is  nothing  strange,  then,  in  the  outbreak  of  witch- 
craft persecution  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  inconceivable 
that  the  Colony  should  pass  through  its  first  century  with- 
out such  a  calamity.  The  wonderful  thing  is  that  it  did  not 
come  sooner  and  last  longer.  From  the  first  pranks  of  Mr, 
Parris's  unhappy  children  (in  February,  1692)  to  the  col- 
lapse of  the  prosecution  in  January,  1693,  was  less  than  a 
year.  During  the  interval  twenty  persons  had  suffered 
death,  and  two  are  known  to  have  died  in  jail.1  If  to 
these  we  add  a  few  sporadic  cases,  there  is  a  total  of  be- 
tween twenty-five  and  thirty  victims;  but  this  is  the  whole 
reckoning,  not  merely  for  a  year  or  two  but  for  a  com- 
plete century.  The  concentration  of  the  troubles  in  Massa- 

1  C.  W.  Upham,  Salem  Witchcraft,  Boston,  1867,  II,  351. 


THE  TOAD   AND   THE   SPIDER  113 

chusetts  within  the  limits  of  a  single  year  has  given  a  wrong 
turn  to  the  thoughts  of  many  writers.  This  concentration 
makes  the  case  more  conspicuous,  but  it  does  not  make  it 
worse.  On  the  contrary,  it  makes  it  better.  It  is  astonish- 
ing that  there  should  have  been  less  than  half  a  dozen  exe- 
cutions for  witchcraft  in  Massachusetts  before  1692,  and 
equally  astonishing  that  the  delusion,  when  it  became  acute, 
should  have  raged  for  but  a  year,  and  that  but  twenty  per- 
sons should  have  been  executed.  The  facts  are  distinctly 
creditable  to  our  ancestors,  —  to  their  moderation  and  to 
the  rapidity  with  which  their  good  sense  could  reassert 
itself  after  a  brief  eclipse. 

No  one  has  ever  made  an  accurate  count  of  the  execu- 
tions for  witchcraft  in  England  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
but  they  must  have  mounted  into  the  hundreds.1  Matthew 
Hopkins,  the  infamous  "  witch-finder  general,"  is  thought 
to  have  brought  sixty  persons  to  the  gallows  in  Suffolk  in 
1645  and  1646;  by  his  efforts  fifteen  were  hanged  in  Essex 
in  1645  and  sixteen  at  Yarmouth  the  year  before.  His 
confederate  Stern  puts  the  sum  total  of  Hopkins's  victims 
at  two  hundred.2  In  Scotland,  where  there  was  no  Hop- 
kins, the  number  was  much  greater  than  in  England.  On 
the  continent  of  Europe  many  thousands  suffered  death  in 
the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  Nicholas  Remy 
(Remigius)  of  Lorraine  gathered  the  materials  for  his  work 
on  the  "  Worship  of  Demons,"  published  in  I59S,3  from 
the  trials  of  some  nine  hundred  persons  whom  he  had  sen- 
tenced to  death  in  the  fifteen  years  preceding.  The  efforts 
of  the  Bishop  of  Bamberg  from  1622  to  1633  resulted  in 
six  hundred  executions,  the  Bishop  of  Wiirzburg,  in  about 
the  same  period,  is  said  to  have  put  nine  hundred  persons 

1  See  Hutchinson,  Historical  Essay  concerning  Witchcraft,  2d  ed.,  Lon- 
don, 1720,  pp.  45  ff. 

2  Lives  of  Twelve  Bad  Men,  edited  by  Thomas  Seccombe,  London,  1894, 
p.  64. 

3  Dasmonolatreia,  Lugduni,  1595. 

8 


ii4      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

to  death.1  These  figures,  which  might  be  multiplied  almost 
indefinitely,2  help  us  to  regard  the  Salem  Witchcraft  in  its 
true  proportions,  —  as  a  very  small  incident  in  the  history 
of  a  terrible  superstition. 

The  last  execution  for  witchcraft  in  Massachusetts  took 
place  in  1693,  as  we  have  seen;  indeed,  twenty  of  the  total 
of  about  twenty-five  cases  fall  within  that  and  the  preceding 
year.  There  were  no  witch  trials  in  New  England  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  annals  of  Europe  are  not  so  clear. 
In  England  Jane  Wenham  was  condemned  to  death  for  this 
imaginary  crime  in  1712,  but  she  was  pardoned.3  The  act 
against  witchcraft  was  repealed  in  1736,  but  in  1751  Ruth 
Osborne,  a  reputed  witch,  was  killed  by  a  mob  in  Hertford- 
shire.4 The  last  execution  for  witchcraft  in  Germany  took 
place  in  1775.  In  Spain  the  last  witch  was  burned  to  death 
in  1781.  In  Switzerland  Anna  Goldi  was  beheaded  in  1782 
for  bewitching  the  child  of  her  master,  a  physician.  In 
Poland  two  women  were  burned  as  late  as  I793-5  Just 
before  the  arrest  of  Jane  Wenham,  Addison,  in  the  Spec- 
tator for  July  n,  1711,  had  expressed  the  creed  of  a 
well-bred  and  sensible  man  of  the  world :  "  I  believe  in 
general  that  there  is,  and  has  been  such  a  thing  as  Witch- 
craft; but  at  the  same  time  can  give  no  Credit  to  any 
particular  Instance  of  it."  And  with  this  significant  utter- 
ance we  may  close  our  brief  discussion  of  a  subject  that 
has  been  much  misunderstood  and  return  to  our  toads. 

The  toad  is  a  distinguished  figure  both  in  literature  and 
in  popular  superstition  or  folk-lore,  and  he  owes  his  fame 

1  Soldan,  Geschichte  der  Hexenprozesse,  ed.  Heppe,  Stuttgart,  1880,  II, 
38  ff. 

2  See  the  extraordinary  enumeration  in  Roskoff,  Geschichte  des  Teufels, 
Leipzig,  1869,  II,  293  ff. 

3  Thomas  Wright,  Narratives  of  Sorcery  and  Magic,  London,  1851,  II, 
31 9  if. 

4  The  same,  II,  326  ff. 

5  Soldan,  II,  314,  322,  327. 


THE  TOAD   AND   THE   SPIDER  115 

to  his  supposed  venomous  qualities  quite  as  much  as  to 
his  ugliness.  The  Roman  ladies,  if  we  may  believe  Juvenal, 
poisoned  their  husbands  with  a  preparation  of  the  rnbeta, 
a  small  toad,1  —  a  more  delicate  instrument  of  murder,  he 
suggests,  than  Clytemnestra's  axe.  "  To  give  one  frogs 
instead  of  fish  "  is  an  old  proverbial  variation  of  the  Bibli- 
cal "If  he  ask  for  a  fish,  will  he  give  him  a  serpent?" 
An  ingredient  of  the  witches'  caldron  in  Macbeth  was  a 

Toad,  that  under  cold  stone 
Days  and  nights  has  thirty-one 
Swelter'd  venom  sleeping  got, 

and  one  of  the  commentators  who  will  not  allow  Shakspere 
to  make  a  mistake  refers  to  a  learned  disquisition  in  the 
"Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  for  1826,"  in  which  a 
certain  Dr.  Davy  proves  "that  the  toad  is  venomous,  and 
moreover  that  '  swelter'd  venom '  is  peculiarly  proper,  the 
poison  being  diffused  over  the  body  immediately  under 
the  skin."  According  to  Milton,  when  Satan  wished  to 
suggest  wickedness  to  the  sleeping  Eve  he  "  squat  like  a 
toad"  at  her  ear  and  whispered  temptation  to  her.  Even 
in  our  own  time  it  is  impossible  to  convince  people  that  to 
handle  toads  does  not  induce  warts. 

The  alleged  venom  of  the  toad  has  likewise  made  him  a 
considerable  figure  in  medical  science.  In  the  seventeenth 
century  he  was  regarded  as  a  protection  against  the  plague. 
There  is  a  good  passage  to  this  effect  in  one  of  the  odd- 
est pieces  of  strange  learning  ever  produced  by  mortal 
man,  Sir  Kenelm  Digby's  Discourse  touching  the  Cure  of 
Wounds  by  the  Powder  of  Sympathy,  originally  delivered 
in  1657  before  a  learned  assembly  at  Montpellier.  Digby 
believed  that  he  could  heal  a  wound  by  treating,  not  the 
patient,  but  some  article  that  was  stained  with  the  patient's 
blood,  —  the  knife,  for  instance,  that  had  done  the  injury. 

1  Satires,  i,  70  ;  vi,  659. 


ii6  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

He  had  obtained  the  secret  from  a  Carmelite  friar,  who  had 
learned  it  in  the  East.  He  put  it  in  practice  on  James 
Howell,  whose  .hand  was  badly  cut  in  an  affray  and  was  in 
danger  of  gangrene.  In  this  case  it  was  Howell's  garter, 
which  had  been  used  as  a  bandage,  that  Digby  treated, 
with  the  happiest  results,  and  to  the  delight  and  amaze- 
ment of  King  James  I.  There  can  be  no  doubt  about  the 
cure,  though  we  should  now  be  inclined  to  ascribe  it,  not 
to  Digby's  honest  hocus-pocus,  but  to  his  advice  to  Howell 
to  throw  away  the  plasters  and  medicaments  which  the 
doctors  had  applied  and  to  keep  the  wound  clean.  We  are 
at  present  concerned,  however,  not  so  much  with  the  facts 
as  with  the  theory  on  which  they  were  accounted  for.  This 
is  set  forth  with  much  skill  and  eloquence  in  Digby's  Dis- 
course. There  is,  he  believes,  a  subtle  relation,  or  sym- 
pathy, between  anything  that  has  at  any  time  been  a  part 
of  one,  like  a  severed  limb  or  shed  blood,  and  the  person 
himself,  and  this  relation  persists  even  at  considerable  dis- 
tances. It  operates  by  a  constant  stream  of  emanations, 
so  to  speak,  which  are  merely  one  form  of  a  system  of  sym- 
pathies which  bind  like  things  together  in  the  order  of 
nature.  The  same  theory  underlies  the  belief  (still  more 
or  less  prevalent)  that  a  man  feels  pain  when  an  amputated 
leg  or  arm  is  maltreated  or  not  comfortably  disposed  of.1 

The  interest  which  Sir  Kenelm  Digby's  sympathetic 
powder  roused  throughout  the  civilized  world  finds  its 
reflection  in  the  Harvard  Theses  for  A.  M.  In  1693  these 
seem  to  assume  complete  belief  in  the  reality  of  the  cure, 
but  evince  some  scruples  as  to  its  propriety :  "  Is  the  cure 
of  wounds  by  sympathetic  powder  lawful?"  The  same 
question  was  debated  in  1708.  Of  course,  the  doubt  was 
whether  sorcery  entered  into  the  method  used  by  Sir 

1  A  case  of  this  kind  is  described  in  a  letter  written  by  John  Winthrop, 
F.R.S.,  to  Cotton  Mather  in  1716  (Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  6th  Series,  V, 
333-4)- 


THE  TOAD   AND   THE   SPIDER  117 

Kenelm.  The  decision  in  both  years  favored  the  legality 
of  sympathetic  cures,  and  indeed  it  is  difficult  to  see  how 
their  perfect  innocence  can  have  been  doubted  by  anyone 
who  had  read  the  discourse  in  which  Digby,  rejecting 
all  mystery,  endeavored  to  explain  in  the  most  rigidly 
scientific  fashion  the  whys  and  wherefores  of  what  so 
many  persons  regarded  as  the  greatest  wonder  of  the  age. 
The  question  "  Is  there  a  magnetic  method  of  curing 
wounds?"  was  discussed  in  1698  and  settled  affirmatively, 
and  in  1703,  1708,  1710,  "  Is  there  a  sympathetic  powder?" 
was  similarly  answered.1 

Closely  associated  with  sympathetic  powder  is  the 
general  doctrine  of  magnetic  treatment,  concerning  which 
we  have  Digby's  remarkable  letter  to  John  Winthrop  the 
Younger,  describing  the  curing  of  ague  by  hanging  the 
parings  of  the  patient's  nails  round  the  neck  of  an  eel.2 

Digby  illustrates  his  sympathetic  philosophy  by  many 
curious  examples,  and  thus  he  comes  to  speak  of  toads 
as  an  antidote  to  the  pestilence:  "In  time  of  common 
Contagion,"  he  says,  "  they  use  to  carry  about  them  the 
powder  of  a  Toad,  and  sometimes  a  living  Toad  or  Spider 
shut  up  in  a  box ;  or  else  they  carry  Arsenick,  or  some 
other  venomous  substance,  which  draws  unto  it  the  con- 
tagious air,  which  otherwise  would  infect  the  party:  and 
the  same  powder  of  a  Toad  draws  unto  it  the  poison  of  a 
Plague-soar.  The  Farcey  is  a  venemous  and  contagious 
humour  within  the  body  of  an  Horse ;  hang  a  Toad  about 
the  neck  of  the  Horse  in  a  little  bag,  and  he  will  be  cured 
infallibly;  the  Toad,  which  is  the  stronger  poison,  drawing 
to  it  the  venom  which  was  within  the  Horse."3 

Van  Helmont  also  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  the  toad 

1  Proc.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  XVIII,  132. 

2  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  3d  Series,  X,  17. 

3  A  Late  Discourse,  etc.,  rendered  faithfully  out  of  French  into  English 
by  R.  White,  4th  ed.,  London,  1664,  pp.  76-77. 


ii8  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

as  a  remedy  or  prophylactic,  though  his  theory  of  its 
operation  was  somewhat  different  from  Digby's.  A  dis- 
ciple of  Helmont's  once  put  the  prescription  to  the  test, 
and  has  left  an  account  of  the  result  in  a  very  rare  book 
called  The  Pest  Anatomized,  which  appeared  in  1666. 
This  was  George  Thomson,  one  of  the  leaders  in  the  revolt 
against  the  Galenical  or  "  regular"  physicians  which  made 
so  much  noise  in  England  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and, 
in  spite  of  the  vagaries  of  the  innovators,  accomplished  a 
great  reform  in  medical  practice.  In  1665,  when  the 
plague  was  raging  in  London,  Thomson  had  the  courage 
to  dissect  a  "  pestilential  body  "  in  the  hope  of  making 
some  discovery  that  might  be  of  advantage  to  mankind. 
He  took  the  infection,  and  since  the  two  best  physicians 
of  his  own  school  were  suffering  from  the  disease  and  he 
would  trust  no  Galenist,  he  was  obliged  to  treat  himself. 
His  principal  effort  was  to  support  nature,  instead  of 
weakening  it  by  the  bleedings  and  heroic  purges  then 
most  in  favor,  and  to  induce  perspiration.  But  he  also 
had  recourse  to  the  batrachian  cure.  He  hung  a  large 
dried  toad  about  his  neck,  and  he  assures  us  solemnly  that 
the  creature  "  became  so  tumefied,  distended,  (as  it  were 
blown  up)  "  with  the  venom  which  it  attracted  from  the 
patient's  body  into  its  own  "  that  it  was  an  object  of 
wonder  to  those  that  beheld  it."  l  Thomson  adds  a  queer 
bit  of  experimental  philosophy  regarding  the  toad :  "  It 
is  observed,"  he  says,  "  that  the  Bnfo  is  a  Creature  so 
extreamly  fearful,  that  if  you  take  the  advantage  to  look 
upon  it  with  a  firmly  fixed  intentive  eye  for  a  quarter  of 
an  hour,  there  being  no  avoidance  of  your  countenance, 
it  will  shortly  dye  with  very  terrour,  as  I  have  tryed."  2 

Thomson   got  well  and   lived   to  write  his  book.     We 
need  not  suspect  him  of  lying,  but  we  shall  do  well  to 

1  AOIMOTOMIA:  or  the  Pest  Anatomized,  London,  1666,  p.  86. 

2  The  same,  p.  170. 


THE  TOAD  AND   THE   SPIDER  119 

remember  that  one  effect  of  the  plague,  as  he  says  himself, 
was  to  disorder  the  intellect  of  the  sufferer  for  the  time 
being. 

So  much  for  the  venom  of  the  toad.  As  to  spiders,  it 
is  well  known  that  some  of  them  are  dangerous,  and 
popular  credulity  is  prone  to  generalize.  The  testimony 
of  the  Rev.  John  Beal,  a  friend  of  Boyle  the  physicist,  will 
suffice.  "I  think,"  he  writes  in  1663,  "this  land  and 
climate  does  not  breed  stronger  or  quicker  poison  in  any 
vegetable,  animal,  serpent,  or  insectile,  than  in  the  spider, 
though  I  have  heard  of  some  men,  that  can  eat  and  digest 
spiders ;  and  I  have  seen  young  turkeys  eat  them  for  an 
antidote,  and  particularly  when  strawberries,  (either  in 
kind,  or  in  quantity,  as  causing  a  surfeit)  was  their  poison, 
and  had  killed  many,  that  had  not  eaten  spiders."  * 

Spiders,  like  toads,  were  hung  about  the  patient's  neck, 
as  a  remedy  for  divers  diseases.  Ashmole,  the  antiquary, 
when  suffering  from  ague,  resorted  to  this  specific.  In  his 
diary  we  read,  on  May  1 1,  1681:  "  I  took,  early  in  the  morn- 
ing, a  good  dose  of  elixir,  and  hung  three  spiders  about 
my  neck,  and  they  drove  my  ague  away.  Deo  Gratias!  "  2 

What  Mr.  Thomas  thought  of  spiders  we  do  not  know; 
but  he  had  enlightened  views  on  the  subject  of  toads  and 
snakes.  In  his  Farmer's  Calendar  for  May,  1813,  we 
find :  —  "I  never  suffer  any  of  my  family  to  kill  those 
little  innocent  animals  called  striped  snakes,  for  they  do 
me  much  service  in  destroying  grasshoppers,  and  other 
troublesome  insects.  Toads  are  of  essential  service,  es- 
pecially in  a  garden,  to  eat  up  cabbage-worms,  catter- 
pillars,  &c." 

The  essential  element  in  the  story  of  the  duel  between 
the  Toad  and  the  Spider  lies  in  the  doctrine  that  animals 
know  what  is  good  for  them,  and  in  particular  that  they 

1  Letter  to  Robert  Boyle,  Boyle's  Works,  ed.  Birch,  1744,  V,  455. 

2  W.  G.  Black,  Folk-Medicine,  London,  1883,  p.  60. 


I2O         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

instinctively  seek  curative  herbs  when  they  have  suffered 
an  injury.  This  doctrine  is  universal.  It  finds  poetical 
expression  in  Alphonsus,  a  tragedy  by  Shakspere's  un- 
fortunate contemporary  Robert  Greene:  — 

The  silly  serpent,  found  by  country  swain, 

And  cut  in  pieces  by  his  furious  blows, 

Yet  if  his  head  do  'scape  away  untouch'd, 

As  many  write,  it  very  strangely  goes 

To  fetch  an  herb,  with  which  in  little  time 

Her  batter'd  corpse  again  she  doth  conjoin  : 

But  if  by  chance  the  ploughman's  sturdy  staff 

Do  hap  to  hit  upon  the  serpent's  head, 

And  bruise  the  same,  though  all  the  rest  be  sound, 

Yet  doth  the  silly  serpent  lie  for  dead, 

Nor  can  the  rest  of  all  her  body  serve 

To  find  a  salve  which  may  her  life  preserve.1 

One  of  the  most  curious  accounts  of  this  instinctive 
recognition  of  remedies  by  the  lower  animals  is  that  given 
by  Giraldus  Cambrensis  in  his  Irish  Topography.2  Ac- 
cording to  the  not  altogether  trustworthy  evidence  of  this 
imaginative  twelfth-century  writer,  the  weasels  in  Ireland, 
when  their  young  have  been  killed  by  an  injury,  restore 
them  to  life  by  means  of  a  certain  yellow  flower.  Giraldus 
declares  that  he  is  following  the  testimony  of  eye-witnesses 
who  have  killed  young  weasels  for  the  sake  of  experiment. 
The  creature,  we  are  told,  first  blows  in  the  wound  and  in 
the  mouth  and  nostrils  of  the  dead  animal,  and  then  applies 
the  flower  in  question,  with  the  happiest  effect.  There  is 
a  similar  incident  in  the  Old  French  lay  of  Eliduc,  written 
by  Marie  de  France  about  1180,  in  which  a  human  being 
is  brought  to  life  by  a  friend  who  notices  the  actions  of 
the  weasels  and  applies  his  observation.  Examples  might 
be  multiplied  indefinitely,  but  perhaps  we  have  had  enough 
of  Toads  and  Spiders. 

1  Works,  ed.  Dyce,  London,  1831,  II,  14. 

2  Topographia  Hibernica,  i,  27,  Opera,  ed.  Dimock,  V,  60-61. 


SUGAR   AND   SALT 

IN  his  generous  enthusiasm  for  America  and  American 
products,  the  author  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack  does 
not  forget   Maple  Sugar.     He  regards  it  as  prefer- 
able in  every  way  to  the  sugar  imported  from  the  West 
Indies,  and  believes  that  every  humane  and  patriotic  citi- 
zen should  use  it  exclusively.     Here  are  some  of  his  pre- 
cepts, all  under  March,  the  proper  month  for  "  sugaring 
off":  — 

1 794.    Attend  to  making  maple  sugar. 

1798.  Those  who  have  trees  will  not  neglect  the  making  of 
maple  sugar,  which  is  not  only  the  most  wholesome  and  pleasant 
sweetening,  but  being  the  product  of  our  own  country,  will  ever 
have  the  preference  by  every  true  American. 

1800.  As  soon  as  the  frost  begins  to  quit  its  hold  of  the  sugar 
maple,  be  prepared  to  take  its  luxuriant  juice,  as  the  first  taken 
is  much  the  richest. 

1 80 1.  "  A  penny  saved  is  as  good  as  two-pence  earned  •  "  that 
is,  if  you  have  maple  trees,  and  have  to  buy  sugar  in  the  summer, 
you  pay  too  dear  for  your  rattle. 

1804.  '•  He  that  has  money,"  says  cousin  Simpkins,  "  may  eat 
honey.     And  so  my  home-made  maple  sweetening,  must  answer 
my  purpose.     Yet,"  continues  he,  "  it  affords  me  much  consola- 
tion to  reflect  that  my  poor  maple  stuff,  as  they  call  it,  possesses 
no  mingled  tears  of  misery ;  no  desponding  slave  ever  groaned 
over  my  cauldrons  or  fanned  them  with  his  sighs  :  No ;  this  little 
lump  in  my  hand  is  the  reward  of  my  own  labour  on  my  own 
farm." 

1805.  Make  your  own  sugar,  and  send  not  to  the  Indies  for  it. 
Feast  not  on  the  toil,  pain  and  misery  of  the  wretched. 


122  THE   OLD   FARMERS   ALMANACK 

1807.  Economy  now  calls  your  attention  to  your  maple  trees. 
Make  all  the  sugar  you  can,  for  you  know  not  what  may  happen 
to  prevent  its  importation.     Besides,  there  is  a  great  satisfaction 
derived  from  living  as  much  as  possible  upon  the  produce  of 
one's  own  farm ;  where  no  poor  slave  has  toiled  in  sorrow  and 
pain ;  where  no  scoundrel  has  lorded  over  your  fields  ;  but  where 
honest  industry  walks  peaceful  amidst  the  smiling  fruits  of  his 
labour. 

1808.  Pies,  puddings,  and  pancakes  are  best  with  sweetening, 
and  as  sugar  is  as  cheap  and  agreeable  an  article  as  we  can  find 
for  this  use,  we  had  better  be  attending  to  our  cauldrons.     Heaven 
has  been  extremely  propitious  to   our  country,  in  causing  the 
growth  of  this  valuable  tree  ;  the  maple.     He  who  lives  well,  sees 
afar  off, 

1 8 1 8.  As  for  myself  I  have  done  using  sugar,  and  feel  much 
better  for  it.  But  those  who  will  still  use  this  luxury,  as  I  shall 
call  it,  had  better  be  attending  to  their  maple  trees. 

When  Mr.  Thomas  began  to  issue  his  Almanac,  in 
1792,  and  for  years  thereafter,  many  inland  families  used 
no  sugar  but  that  which  they  made  themselves  from  the 
sap  of  the  maple.  Every  farmer  in  the  districts  where 
these  trees  flourish  wished  to  have  his  "  sugar  orchard," 
and  "  sugaring  off"  was  as  much  a  part  of  the  agricultural 
year  as  plowing  or  haymaking.  On  the  coast,  cane  sugar 
imported  from  the  West  Indies  was  in  use,  but  this  was  of 
course  more  expensive  to  the  farmer  than  that  which  he 
could  extract  from  his  own  trees.  In  1784  President  Stiles 
of  Yale  noted  in  his  Diary:  — "  Sixteen  Thousd  pounds  of 
Maple  Sugar  made  at  Norfolk  in  one  year  about  1774. 
This  year  1784  about  one  Third  more.  Sell  at  6d  T  Ib.  or 
5<D/  T  cw*  made  by  180  families.  Now  230  families  in  Nor- 
folk. About  one  hundred  famys  made  the  sugar.  Two 
pail  fulls  of  sap  make  one  pound  —  one  Tree  gives  a  pound 
a  day.  Mr.  Robbins  2  little  sons  made  two  hundred  weight 
of  Sugar  from  one  hundred  Trees  this  year.  Sugar  Works 


SUGAR   AND   SALT  123 

in  Goshen  have  lasted  above  fourty  years  &  still  good."  l 
"  The  sugar,"  wrote  Jeremy  Belknap  about  1792,  "  is  clear 
gain  to  the  industrious  husbandman."  The  sap  was  col- 
lected and  boiled  down  at  a  time  of  year  when  there  was 
little  or  nothing  to  do  on  the  farm,  and  the  yield  was  gener- 
ous, with  small  labor,  —  labor,  too,  which  partook  of  the 
nature  of  frolic  and  therefore  was  scarcely  felt  as  work  at 
all.  Belknap  remarks  that  "  one  man  and  a  boy  have  col- 
lected a  sufficiency  of  sap  for  five  hundred  pounds  of  sugar, 
and  a  man,  with  two  boys,  for  seven  hundred.  The  boil- 
ing is  often  performed  by  women."  2  The  syrup,  or  that 
portion  of  the  sap  which  would  not  granulate,  was  a 
substitute  for  molasses.  The  Due  de  la  Rochefoucault- 
Liancourt,  driven  from  his  native  country  by  the  French 
Revolution,  spent  some  three  years  (1795-1797)  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada.  He  was  a  philosophical  trav- 
eller of  the  school  of  Arthur  Young,  and  was  sufficiently 
interested  in  maple  sugar  to  set  down  what  he  could  learn 
about  it  under  no  less  than  twelve  heads.  In  general  he 
testifies  to  the  fact  that  he  found  no  scarcity  of  excellent 
sugar.3 

In  1794  the  English  clothier,  Henry  Wansey,  in  com- 
menting on  the  "  excellent  provisions  "  served  at  Frederick 
Bull's  tavern  in  Hartford,  remarks  that  there  were  "  three 
sorts  of  sugar  brought  always  to  the  table  ;  —  the  musco- 
vado,4 the  fine  lump  sugar,  and  the  maple."  "  From  the 
novelty  of  it,"  he  adds,  "  I  preferred  the  last,  though  I  could 
not  find  much  difference  in  the  taste  of  it."  5  This  is  curi- 
ous, since  maple  sugar  certainly  has  a  flavor  of  its  own. 
Bull's  lump  sugar  was  a  rarity,  not  to  be  expected  in  any 

1  Literary  Diary  of  Ezra  Stiles,  May  19,  1784,  ed.  Dexter,  III,  121. 

2  History  of  New  Hampshire,  1792,  III,  116. 

3  Travels,  English  translation,  1799,  I,  125-6. 
*  I.  e.,  raw  sugar. 

5  Journal  of  an  Excursion  to  the  United  States  of  America  in  the  Summer 
of  1794,  Salisbury,  1796,  pp.  60-61. 


124         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

but  first-class  inns.  At  Durham,  in  the  same  State,  the 
traveller  was  not  so  well  satisfied.  The  tavern  was  "a  very 
mean  house,  the  worst  he  had  seen."  The  bread  was  "  cake 
made  of  rye,  and  only  half  baked  " ;  the  beefsteaks  for 
breakfast  were  fried  in  lard ;  the  tea  and  coffee  were  smoky. 
Here,  of  course,  only  maple  sugar  was  provided.  Appar- 
ently Wansey  spoke  of  it  with  appreciation,  for  one  of  his 
fellow-passengers  —  a  Yankee  with  an  eye  to  business  — 
offered  him  five  hundred  weight  of  it  for  fourpence  half- 
penny sterling  a  pound ;  "  but,"  adds  Wansey  regretfully, 
"  it  is  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England  to  import  it."  l 

The  art  of  making  maple  sugar  was  learned  by  the  set- 
tlers from  the  Indians,  who  had  practised  it  from  time  im- 
memorial. A  brief  description  of  the  art  as  practised  by 
the  savages  of  Canada  "longer  then  any  now  living  among 
them  can  remember,"  was  published  by  the  Royal  Society 
in  i685.2  In  1720  Paul  Dudley  communicated  to  the  same 
learned  body  another  account  of  the  process,  which  was 
duly  printed  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions ;  3  but  he 
does  not  mention  the  Indians.  "  Our  physicians,"  he 
avers,  "  look  upon  it  not  only  to  be  as  good  for  common 
use  as  the  West  India  sugar,  but  to  exceed  all  other  for  its 
medicinal  virtue."  We  have  seen  that  toward  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century  this  sugar  was  in  common  use  in 
New  England.  The  farmer  who  was  fortunate  enough 
to  have  a  sugar  orchard  valued  it  highly,  and  counted 
upon  its  product  as  a  regular  part  of  his  supplies  for  the 
year.  It  appears,  however,  that  although  the  white  people 
had  early  observed  the  practice  of  the  Indians  in  this  re- 
spect, they  were  rather  slow  in  imitating  them  to  any  extent. 
Thus,  in  the  highly  interesting  volume  entitled  Historical 
Memoirs  Relating  to  the  Housatunnuk  Indians,  by  the  Rev. 

1  Journal,  as  above,  p.  64. 

2  Philosophical  Transactions,  XV,  988. 

8  Philosophical  Transactions,  XXXI,  27-28. 


SUGAR  AND    SALT  12$ 

Samuel  Hopkins  of  Springfield,  published  in  1753,  there  is 
a  long  note  on  the  subject,  which  concludes  with  the  sug- 
gestion that  it  would  be  prudent  for  farmers  to  spare  their 
maple  trees,  and  to  utilize  them  from  year  to  year  in  supply- 
ing themselves  with  sugar  and  molasses.  Mr.  Hopkins 
also  suggests  that  rum,  which  we  must  remember  was  re- 
garded as  a  necessity  by  our  ancestors,  might  perhaps  be 
made  of  the  sap,  though  he  says  that  the  experiment  has 
not  been  tried  so  far  as  he  knows.  If  the  sap  is  fermented, 
he  remarks,  after  three  or  four  barrels  have  been  reduced 
to  one  by  boiling,  it  "  makes  a  very  pleasant  drink  which 
is  sufficiently  spirituous."  His  account  of  Indian  sugar- 
making  is  worth  transcribing  for  its  antiquarian  signifi- 
cance, and  his  economic  speculations  are  curious :  — 

The  Indians  make  their  Sugar  of  the  Sap  of  Maple  Trees. 
They  extract  the  Sap  by  cutting  the  tree  on  one  Side,  in  such  a 
Form  as  that  the  Sap  will  naturally  gather  into  a  small  Channel 
at  the  Bottom  of  the  Hole  cut ;  where  they  fix  into  the  Tree  a 
small  Chip,  of  6  or  8  Inches  long,  which  carries  the  Sap  off  from 
the  Tree,  into  a  Vessel  set  to  receive  it.  Thus  they  tap  a  Number 
of  Trees ;  and,  when  the  Vessels  are  full,  they  gather  the  Sap,  and 
boil  it  to  such  a  Degree  of  Consistence,  as  to  make  Sugar.  After 
it  is  boil'd,  they  take  it  off  the  Fire,  and  stir  it  till  it  is  cold,  which 
is  their  Way  of  graining  it.  The  Sugar  is  very  good,  of  a  very 
agreable  Taste,  and  esteemed  the  most  wholesome  of  any.  It 
might  doubtless  be  made  in  great  Plenty;  and,  I  cannot  but 
think,  to  the  great  Profit  of  the  Undertakers.  If  some  Man  would 
build  him  a  Sugar- House,  and  provide  a  set  of  Boilers,  and  other 
Utensils  as  they  have  in  the  West- Indies,  I  am  persuaded  he  would 
find  his  Account  in  it,  beyond  what  those  in  the  West-Indies  can 
do.  For  the  Gentleman,  who  hath  a  Plantation  in  the  West- 
Indies,  is  at  great  Expence  in  preparing  his  Ground ;  planting 
his  Cane,  and  cultivating  it  for  more  than  a  Year,  before  it  is  fit 
for  Use  :  in  cutting,  triming,  and  toping  it ;  for  Mills  to  grind  it ; 
and  not  till  all  this  be  done  is  the  Sap  of  the  Cane  ready  for  boil- 


i26      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

ing.  All  this  Charge  might  be  substracted  from  the  Gentleman's 
Account,  who  uses  Maple  Trees  instead  of  Cane,  except  the  Ex- 
pence  of  taping  the  Trees,  and  gathering  the  Sap,  which  is  as 
nothing  compar'd  with  the  other. 

It  is  true  indeed,  that  the  Sap  of  Maple  Trees  is  not  so  rich  as 
that  of  the  Sugar  Cane ;  but  I  suppose  the  Disproportion  is  not 
by  far  so  great  as  that  of  the  Expence.  For,  I  have  been  inform'd 
that  two  Men,  under  the  Disadvantage  of  boiling  it  in  two  Kettles, 
and  in  the  open  Air,  have,  in  a  good  Season,  made  a  Barrel  in  a 
Week.  What  then  would  a  Number  of  Hands  do,  with  a  Sett  of 
West-India  Boilers,  Coolers,  and  other  Advantages  of  Dispatch, 
which  they  are  furnish'd  with?  Trees  fit  for  this  Business  are 
very  plenty,  in  the  vast  uncultivated  Wilderness  between  Con- 
necticut and  Hudson's  Rivers,  as  also  in  all  the  Northern  Borders 
of  this  Province.  And,  could  the  one  Half  of  them  be  us'd,  I 
suppose  they  would  more  than  furnish  all  the  British  Colonies 
upon  the  Continent  with  Sugar? 

The  scarcity  of  all  imported  articles  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary War,  which  led  to  so  many  eccentric  substitutions, 
could  not  fail  to  turn  speculative  minds  towards  the  possi- 
bilities of  native  sugar-making.  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  the 
celebrated  Pennsylvania  surgeon,  and  a  signer  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  conducted  an  experiment, 
at  which  Alexander  Hamilton  was  present,  to  prove  that 
maple  sugar  is  not  inferior  in  strength  to  that  from  the 
West  Indies.  In  1791  he  sent  a  paper  on  the  subject  to 
the  American  Philosophical  Society,  in  which  he  displayed 
much  freedom  of  scientific  fancy.  His  mere  facts,  to  be 
sure,  are  sober  enough.  "  For  a  great  number  of  years 
many  hundred  private  families  in  New- York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania have  supplied  themselves  plentifully  with  this  sugar 
during  the  whole  year."  He  has  heard  of  "  many  families 
who  have  made  from  two  to  four  hundred  pounds  in  a 

1   Historical  Memoirs,  Boston,  1753,  p.  26. 


SUGAR   AND    SALT  I2/ 

year;  and  of  one  man  who  sold  six  hundred  pounds,  all 
made  with  his  own  hands  in  one  season."  But  his  hopes 
are  extravagant  and  go  far  beyond  the  speculations  of 
Mr.  Hopkins.  He  thought  that  we  might  develop  this 
industry  so  far  as  not  only  to  supply  the  domestic  market, 
but  to  export  enough  to  destroy  the  sugar  plantations  in 
the  West  Indies,  which  from  the  settlement  of  this  country 
had  been  the  chief  source  of  our  supply.  This  hope  gave 
him  pleasure  not  only  on  economic  grounds,  but  for 
humane  reasons  as  well.  He  actually  imagined  that  maple 
sugar  might  enfranchise  the  West  Indian  slaves.  We 
might  export  enough,  perhaps,  "  to  render  the  commerce 
and  slavery  of  our  African  brethren  in  the  sugar  islands 
as  unnecessary,  as  it  has  always  been  inhuman  and  unjust."  J 
The  sanguine  character  of  this  prophecy  may  be  under- 
stood when  we  remember  that  in  the  preceding  year 
(1790)  the  United  States  had  imported  more  than  seven- 
teen and  a  half  million  pounds  of  brown  sugar  from  the 
West  Indies,  and  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  pounds 
of  loaf  sugar  and  other  varieties.  In  1798,  the  total 
importation  of  brown  sugar  amounted  to  nearly  sixty-seven 
million  pounds,  and  that  of  loaf  sugar  etc.  to  more  than 
twenty  and  a  half  million  pounds.  Of  the  former  more 
than  five-sevenths  came  from  the  West  Indies,  and  the 
rest  from  the  East  Indies  chiefly,  that  trade  having 
developed  in  the  meantime ;  of  the  loaf  sugar  practically 
the  whole  amount  was  West  Indian.2  Maple  sugar  is  a 
palatable  and  wholesome  luxury  —  "an  agreeable  sweet," 
as  Dr.  Belknap  calls  it,  —  but  it  was  not  destined  to  eman- 
cipate the  slaves  of  the  sugar  islands.  That  did  not  come 

1  Essays,   Literary,   Moral    and   Philosophical,  Philadelphia,    1798,  pp. 
284,   285-6,   294. 

2  The  World's  Sugar  Production  and  Consumption,  1800-1900,  Monthly 
Summary  of  Commerce  and   Finance  of   the   United   States,  Jan.,  1902, 
pp.   2683-4. 


128  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

till  1834,  and  it  required  an  Act  of  Parliament  and  ^douceur 
of  .£16,500,000. 

Dr.  Rush's  forecast  seems  absurd  enough  nowadays, 
and  we  may  accuse  him  of  being  more  of  a  humanitarian 
than  an  economist.  One  thing,  however,  he  could  not  pre- 
dict, —  the  sugar  industry  of  our  own  South.  At  the  very 
time  when  Rush  was  reading  his  essay,  Antonio  Mendez, 
of  New  Orleans,  was  making  the  first  sugar  ever  produced 
in  that  State,  and  in  the  following  year  (1792)  Rendon, 
the  Spanish  intendant,  used  as  a  curiosity  a  small  quantity 
of  his  loaf  sugar  at  a  banquet.  A  few  years  later,  Etienne 
de  Bore  produced  sugar  in  Louisiana  in  paying  quantities, 
and  in  or  about  1820,  the  introduction  of  the  purple  or  red 
ribbon  canes,  native  to  Java,  settled  the  main  business  of 
that  State  for  good  and  all.1  All  this  Dr.  Rush  could 
not  foresee,  any  more  than  he  could  predict  the  Louisiana 
Purchase  of  1803,  or  the  enormous  development  of  the 
beet-sugar  industry  in  our  own  day. 

Philadelphia  was  fertile  in  projects.  A  few  years  after 
Dr.  Rush  read  his  paper  on  the  maple,  experiments  were 
tried  in  that  city  with  a  view  to  procuring  a  supply  of 
sugar  from  watermelons.  Half  a  pint  of  syrup  was 
obtained  "  by  gradually  boiling  the  strained  pulp  and  juice 
of  a  melon  that  weighed  14  Ib."  Bordley,  the  writer  of  an 
esteemed  work  on  husbandry,  who  had  tasted  a  sample, 
computes  that  at  this  rate  an  acre  of  land  would  produce  a 
hundred  and  forty-three  dollars'  worth  of  syrup.  "  Here," 
he  adds,  "  are  flattering  circumstances  to  induce  experi- 
ments that  may  prove  how  easily  the  country  family  may 
become  independent  of  foreign  countries  for  sweets  of  the 
class  of  sugars,  and  at  a  very  cheap  rate." 2  There  was 
also  an  idea,  —  though  not,  perhaps,  in  Philadelphia,  — 

1  W.  C.  Stubbs,  Sugar  Cane,  [1898?],  pp.  6-10. 

2  J.  B.  Bordley,  Essays  and  Notes  on  Husbandry  and  Rural  Affairs,  2d  ed., 
Philadelphia,  1801,  pp.  530,  531. 


SUGAR  AND   SALT  1 29 

that  molasses  might  be  made  from  sweet  apples.  This 
project  was  mentioned  by  Timothy  Pickering  in  an  address 
before  the  Essex  (Massachusetts)  Agricultural  Society  in 
1820.  Mr.  Pickering  admitted  that  he  "had  never  tasted 
any  sweet  apple  molasses  "  and  that  it  probably  had  not 
"  the  rich  sweet  of  molasses  from  the  sugar  cane,"  but  he 
thought  it  might  do  well  enough  "  for  family  uses  in 
general."  He  knew  a  gentleman  of  first-rate  practical 
judgment  who  maintained  "  that  it  would  not  be  difficult, 
by  forming  orchards  of  sweet  apples,  to  supply  molasses 
for  the  general  consumption  of  the  United  States."  1  We 
hear  also  of  molasses  from  cornstalks  as  manufactured  in 
considerable  quantities,  about  1792,  by  Captain  Jonathan 
Devoll,  one  of  the  New  England  settlers  at  Farmers'  Castle 
(Belpr6)  on  the  Ohio.2 

Dr.  Rush  and  his  fellow-experimenters  were  not  the 
only  prophetic  dreamers  on  this  continent  whose  economic 
visions  were  never  to  be  realized.  Sugar  suggests  salt, 
and  at  about  the  time  when  the  learned  Philadelphian  was 
conducting  his  experiments  with  maple  syrup,  another  in- 
dustry was  establishing  itself  in  Eastern  Massachusetts  with 
far  better  prospect  of  profit  and  permanence.  In  1800  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Timothy  Dwight,  then  in  the  sixth  year  of  his 
presidency  of  Yale  College,  made  a  never-to-be-forgotten 
journey  to  the  extremity  of  Cape  Cod.  At  Yarmouth  his 
eyes  were  greeted  with  a  novel  spectacle,  the  salt-works. 
In  the  next  town,  Dennis,  he  studied  this  interesting  enter- 
prise with  pleased  amazement.  Always  on  the  alert  for 
anything  that  promised  a  combination  of  material  prosperity 
with  moral  and  religious  advancement,  this  learned  theo- 
logian and  entertaining  writer  deliberately  spread  the 
wings  of  his  imagination  for  a  dignified  flight:  — 

1  Discourse  read  before  the  Essex  Agricultural  Society,  in  Massachusetts, 
Feb.  21,  1820,  Salem,  1820,  p.  26. 

2  S.  P.  Hildreth,  Pioneer  History,  Cincinnati,  1848,  p.  393. 

9 


130       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

The  sight  of  these  works  excited  in  my  mind  a  train  of  thought, 
which  others,  perhaps,  will  pronounce  romantic.  I  could  not 
easily  avoid  thinking,  however,  that  this  business  might  one  day 
prove  the  source  of  a  mighty  change  in  the  face  of  this  country. 
The  American  coast,  as  you  know,  is  chiefly  barren,  and  of  course 
thinly  inhabited.  It  is  also  almost  everywhere  low  and  level ; 
and  therefore,  while  it  is  unsuited  to  most  other  employments,  is 
remarkably  fitted  to  this.  Why,  then,  may  it  not  be  believed, 
that  many  thousands  of  persons  may,  one  day,  be  profitably  em- 
ployed in  making  salt  along  the  immense  extent  of  our  shore? 
Why  may  not  comfort,  and  even  wealth  be  easily,  as  well  as  use- 
fully, obtained  here  by  great  multitudes,  who  otherwise  might 
hardly  earn  a  subsistence  ?  For  ought  that  appears,  this  business 
may  be  followed  with  success  and  profit,  to  an  extent,  which  it 
would  be  very  difficult  to  define.  A  small  capital  is  sufficient  to 
begin  the  employment  with  advantage.  The  demand  for  salt  is 
at  present  very  great,  and  is  every  year  increasing.  There  are 
^1811)  seven  millions  of  inhabitants  within  the  United  States: 
within  a  moderate  period  there  will  be  seventy.  The  West-Indian 
sources,  from  which  we  principally  derive  this  necessary  article 
of  life,  are  now  more  than  sufficient.  The  time  is  near,  in  which 
the  demand  will  exceed  the  supplies  from  that  quarter.  To  what 
means  can  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  so  naturally  betake 
themselves,  as  to  those  which  I  have  specified?  Will  they  not 
of  course  erect  works  of  this  nature,  in  succession,  from  St. 
Mary's  to  Machias?  Will  not  comfort,  therefore,  and  even 
affluence,  spring  up  on  sands  and  wastes,  which  now  seem 
doomed  to  everlasting  desolation?  Will  not  towns  and  villages 
smile  in  tracts,  which  are  now  condemned  to  gloom  and  soli- 
tude? May  not  multitudes,  who  habitually  spend  life  in  casual 
and  parsimonious  efforts  to  acquire  a  bare  subsistence,  inter- 
luded  with  long  periods  of  sloth  and  drunkenness,  become  sober, 
diligent,  and  even  virtuous,  and  be  formed  for  usefulness  and 
immortality?1 

1  Timothy  Dwight,  Travels  in  New-England  and  New-York,  New  Haven, 
1822,  III,  81-82. 


SUGAR   AND   SALT  131 

The  object  of  Dr.  Dwight's  poetic  fancy  was  worthy  of 
his  best  efforts,  and  we  may  well  pause  a  moment  to  con- 
template the  rise  and  fall  of  an  almost  forgotten  industry. 

"Can  that  which  is  unsavory  be  eaten  without  salt?" 
asks  the  protesting  Job.  With  the  ocean  at  their  very 
doors,  no  wonder  the  colonists  of  New  England  early 
turned  their  attention  to  the  manufacture  of  salt  by  evapo- 
ration. In  1624  a  salt-maker  was  sent  from  England  to 
instruct  the  Plymouth  settlers  in  the  art.  The  experiment 
failed  dismally.  Its  ill  success  is  graphically  described  by 
Governor  Bradford,1  whose  disgust  at  the  empty  boasting 
of  the  pretender  to  special  knowledge  is  a  matter  of 
record :  — 

He  whom  they  sent  to  make  salte  was  an  ignorante,  foolish, 
self-willd  fellow ;  he  bore  them  in  hand  he  could  doe  great 
matters  in  making  salt-works,  so  he  was  sente  to  seeke  out  fitte 
ground  for  his  purpose ;  and  after  some  serch  he  tould  ye  Govr 
that  he  had  found  a  sufficente  place,  with  a  good  botome  to  hold 
water,  and  otherwise  very  conveniente,  which  he  doubted  not  but 
in  a  short  time  to  bring  to  good  perfection,  and  to  yeeld  them 
great  profile ;  but  he  must  have  8.  or  ten  men  to  be  constantly 
imployed.  He  was  wisht  to  be  sure  that  ye  ground  was  good, 
and  other  things  answerable,  and  yl  he  could  bring  it  to  perfection  ; 
otherwise  he  would  bring  upon  them  a  great  charge  by  imploying 
him  selfe  and  so  many  men.  But  he  was,  after  some  triall,  so 
confidente,  as  he  caused  them  to  send  carpenters  to  rear  a  great 
frame  for  a  large  house,  to  receive  ye  salte  &  such  other  uses. 
But  in  ye  end  all  proved  vaine.  Then  he  layed  fault  of  ye  ground, 
in  which  he  was  deceived ;  but  if  he  might  have  the  lighter  to 
cary  clay,  he  was  sure  that  he  could  doe  it.  Now  though  ye 
Govr  &  some  other  foresaw  that  this  would  come  to  litle,  yet 
they  had  so  many  malignant  spirits  amongst  them,  that  would 
have  laid  it  upon  them,  in  their  letters  of  complainte  to  ye  adven- 
turers, as  to  be  their  falte  y'  would  not  suffer  him  to  goe  on  to 

1  Bradford,  History  of  Plimouth  Plantation,  Boston,  1898,  pp.  203-4. 


132         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

bring  his  work  to  perfection ;  for  as  he  by  his  bould  confidence 
&  large  promises  deceived  them  in  England  that  sente  him,  so  he 
had  wound  him  selfe  in  to  these  mens  high  esteeme  hear,  so  as 
they  were  faine  to  let  him  goe  on  till  all  men  saw  his  vanity.  For 
he  could  not  doe  any  thing  but  boyle  salt  in  pans,  &  yet  would 
make  them  y'  were  joynd  with  him  beleeve  ther  was  so  grat  a 
misterie  in  it  as  was  not  easie  to  be  attained,  and  made  them  doe 
many  unnecessary  things  to  blind  their  eys,,till  they  discerned 
his  sutltie.  The  next  yere  he  was  sente  to  Cap-Anne,  and  ye  pans 
were  set  up  ther  wher  the  fishing  was ;  but  before  somer  was  out, 
he  burte  the  house,  and  the  fire  was  so  vehemente  as  it  spoyld  the 
pans,  at  least  some  of  them,  and  this  was  the  end  of  that  charg- 
able  bussines. 

Salt  was  one  of  the  main  sources  of  income  on  which  the 
investors  in  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Company  relied  for 
their,  profits.  In  the  preliminary  financiering  which  came 
before  the  emigration,  we  find  salt-making  mentioned 
among  the  four  great  monopolies  which  the  adventurers 
felt  authorized  to  dispose  of.1  Experiments  began  early. 
That  inventive  genius,  John  Winthrop  the  Younger,  had 
a  process  of  his  own  devising,  —  "a  compendious  and 
cheap  way,"  as  it  is  called  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Royal 
Society  in  a  letter  in  which  he  begs  Winthrop  to  communi- 
cate it  to  the  savants  of  the  mother  country.2  In  1638 
Winthrop  was  authorized  to  build  salt-works  at  "  Ryall- 
Side,"  now  a  part  of  Beverly,  and  it  is  probable  that  he 
got  to  work  as  early  as  the  spring  of  i639.3  Subsequently 
he  received  further  privileges  of  the  same  nature,  and  the 
General  Court  made  an  agreement  with  him  for  the  price  of 
"  good  white  salt  at  Boston,  Charlestown,  Salem,  Ipswich, 

1  Mass.  Colony  Records,  I,  64. 

2  Henry  Oldenburg   to  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  Aug.  3,  1664,  Coll.  Mass. 
Hist.  Soc.,  3d  Series,  X,  48 ;  cf.  X,  49  ff.     Winthrop's  process  required  fire. 

3  T.  F.  Waters,   Sketch  of   the  Life   of   John   Winthrop  the  Younger, 
Ipswich  Hist.  Soc.  Publ.,  VII  (1899),  25. 


SUGAR  AND   SALT  133 

and  Salisbury."  There  are  many  other  entries  of  a  similar 
character  scattered  through  the  colonial  records  of  our 
Commonwealth.  All  who  are  familiar  with  Judge  Sewall's 
Diary  will  remember  the  salt-works  on  Boston  Neck  in 
which  he  was  financially  interested.  "  Salt  was  the  will-o'- 
wisp  of  seventeenth  century  manufacture."  1  Efforts  were 
repeatedly  made  to  extract  this  essential  commodity  from 
the  sea.  It  seemed  wasteful  to  import  it  from  the  West 
Indies,  or  from  Spain  and  Portugal,  when  the  ocean  came 
up  to  one's  very  doors.  It  was  needed  in  large  quantities 
for  curing  fish  and  other  purposes,  and  its  scarcity,  in 
Mr.  Weeden's  words,  "  limited  enterprise."  Some  of  the 
West  India  salt  was  of  inferior  quality.  That  from  the 
Tortugas  discolored  the  fish.  Projectors  were  often 
encouraged  by  special  grants  and  privileges,  but  with 
slight  results.  None  of  the  early  experiments  turned 
out  well. 

Evaporation  was  effected  by  means  of  artificial  heat. 
But,  cheap  as  wood  was  in  those  days,  this  process  was 
wasteful  and  laborious,  and  much  of  the  profit  went  up  in 
smoke.  In  1776  the  Continental  Congress  procured  the 
circulation  of  a  pamphlet  on  the  "  Art  of  Making  Common 
Salt,  particularly  adapted  to  the  use  of  the  American  Colo- 
nies," being  an  essay  which  appeared  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Magazine  for  March  of  that  year.  The  pamphlet  was  pub- 
lished at  Philadelphia  by  order  of  the  General  Assembly 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  was  immediately  reprinted  at  Boston. 
It  calls  attention  to  the  manufacture  of  the  so-called  "  bay- 
salt  "  by  evaporation,  as  practised  in  the  French  marshes, 
and  urges  the  Colonies  to  institute  it,  since  boiling  is  more 
expensive  and  produces  an  inferior  article.  Little  came 
of  this,  however,  for,  as  in  the  colonial  days,  it  was  impos- 
sible to  find  natural  soil  suitable  for  retaining  the  brine 

1  Weeden,  Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England,  Boston,  1890, 
I,  169. 


134         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

during  evaporation.  In  the  same  year,  however,  Capt. 
John  Sears,  of  Dennis,  devised  a  new  method  of  evaporat- 
ing salt-water  by  means  of  the  sun's  rays.  Of  course  he 
was  laughed  at,  but  he  persevered,  and  after  several  fail- 
ures he  succeeded  in  getting  salt  in  paying  quantities.1 
The  Revolution  was  very  favorable  to  the  industry.  The 
chief  source  of  foreign  supply  had  been  the  West  Indies, 
and  scarcity  began  to  be  felt  as  soon  as  the  war  broke  out. 
In  July,  1775,  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts 
restricted  the  ration  of  each  soldier  to  a  gill  a  week. 
Premiums  were  offered  by  several  colonies  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  salt-works,  bounties  on  salt  were  voted  now 
and  again,  and  the  matter  attracted  the  serious  attention 
of  the  Continental  Congress,2  as  we  have  seen. 

A  particular  account  of  the  process  of  salt-making  on 
Cape  Cod,  — a  method  which  produced  both  the  common 
article  and  the  medicinal  substances  known  as  Epsom  and 
Glauber's  salts, — was  contributed  in  1802,  by  Dr.  James 
Thacher,  of  Plymouth,  to  the  Memoirs  of  the  American 
Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences.3  At  this  time  the  business 
was  flourishing.  There  was  a  considerable  duty  on  im- 
ported salt,  and  the  domestic  manufacturer  counted  upon 
a  yearly  profit  of  from  twenty-five  to  thirty-five  per  cent. 
Dr.  Thacher  is  almost  as  enthusiastic  about  the  future  of 
the  industry  as  Dr.  Dwight.  In  due  time,  he  thinks,  "  we 
may  exhibit  upon  our  shores  a  source  of  wealth  little  in- 
ferior to  the  celebrated  salt  mine  of  Cracow." 

Fifteen  years  later  the  traveller  Kendall  was  entertained 
by  Richard  Sears,  one  of  the  principal  salt  manufacturers 
of  Chatham,  and  collected  much  information  on  the  subject. 
He  learned  that  some  four  hundred  thousand  dollars  was 

1  For  a  full  account  of  his  process  see  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1802,  VIII, 

'35  ff- 

2  See  Smith,  On  the  Scarcity  of  Salt  in  the  Revolutionary  War,  Proc. 

Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  XV,  221  ff. 

3  Vol.  II,  Part  II,  pp.  107  ff. 


SUGAR   AND   SALT  135 

invested  in  salt-works  in  Barnstable  County,  and  that  the 
annual  production  amounted  to  a  hundred  thousand  bushels, 
besides  a  considerable  quantity  of  Glauber's  salts.  In  Den- 
nis, the  original  home  of  the  process  then  in  use,  the  vats 
covered  an  area  of  more  than  650,000  square  feet.  The 
product  was  of  excellent  quality,  superior  in  strength,  it 
was  said,  to  the  best  imported  salt  by  one-fifth.1 

Thoreau  found  the  salt-works  a  picturesque  feature  of 
the  landscape  when  he  made  his  tour  of  the  Cape  in  1849. 
"  The  wind-mills  on  the  hills,  —  large  weather-stained  oc- 
tagonal structures,  —  and  the  salt-works  scattered  all  along 
the  shore,  with  their  long  rows  of  vats  resting  on  poles 
driven  into  the  marsh,  their  low,  turtle-like  roofs,  and  their 
slighter  wind-mills,  were  novel  and  interesting  objects  to 
an  inlander."2  All  this  has  vanished.  The  salt  springs  of 
Onondaga  proved  a  formidable  rival.3  The  removal  of  the 
duty  on  foreign  salt,  with  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  lumber 
and  the  rise  in  wages,  made  the  business  unprofitable,  and 
the  mills  and  vats  were  suffered  to  go  to  wreck,  or  re- 
moved and  their  materials  utilized  for  the  cheaper  kinds 
of  building. 

Many  will  remember  the  large  boards,  fantastically 
marked  with  the  stains  of  spreading  rust  and  marine  chem- 
icals, but  rendered  almost  proof  against  decay  by  their  long 
contact  with  "  lingering  pickle,"  which  twenty-five  years 
ago  were  so  plentifully  worked  up  into  sheds  and  barns, 
and  even  houses,  in  all  parts  of  Cape  Cod.  President 
Dwight's  prophetic  vision  of  an  Atlantic  coast  lined  with 
salt-works  was  not  destined  to  be  fulfilled.  In  Barnstable, 
for  instance,  where  in  1808  there  were  half-a-million  square 

1  E.  A.  Kendall,  Travels  through  the  Northern  Parts  of  the  United  States, 
New  York,  1809,  II,  131  if. 

2  Cape  Cod,  Stage-Coach  Views,  ed.  1877,  pp.  19-20. 

8  See  Benj.  De  Witt,  Memoir  on  the  Onondaga  Salt  Springs,  Albany, 
1798 ;  cf.  S.  P.  Hildreth,  Pioneer  History,  Cincinnati,  1848,  pp.  409,  475-7- 


136       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

feet  of  vats,  there  is  nothing  to  mark  the  site  of  the  manu- 
facture but  a  few  indentations  in  the  marsh,  once  reser- 
voirs, and  a  single  gallows-like  structure,  fallen  into  ruin, 
and  scarcely  recognizable  as  the  timber  frame  of  an  old 
windmill. 


THE    FLYING  STATIONER 

THE  last  page  of  the  Almanac  for  1797,  in  the  course 
of  a  long  advertisement  of  Mr.  Thomas's  book  and 
stationery  business  at  Sterling,1  makes  particular 
mention  of  "  Small  Histories,  Chapmen's  Book[s],  &c." 
and  goes  on  to  enumerate  "  Female  Policy  Detected, 
French  Convert,  Royal  do.,  History  of  the  Holy  Bible, 
Seven  Wise  Masters,  Robinson  Crusoe,  Tom  Thumb's 
Exhibition,  New  Year's  Gift,  Little  King  Pippin,  Moun- 
tain Piper  —  with  a  great  number  of  other  small,  entertain- 
ing histories"  This  entry  is  of  some  importance  to  the 
bibliographer,  who  finds  in  such  "  small  entertaining  his- 
tories "  at  once  his  delight  and  his  despair.  The  chapmen 
in  question  were,  of  course,  book-peddlers,  or  what  used  to 
be  called  in  Scotland  "  flying  stationers."  They  are  best 
known  to  literary  historians  and  collectors  of  rare  vol- 
umes, as  well  as  to  students  of  folk-lore,  by  the  cheap  little 
pamphlets  of  a  popular  character  called  "  chapbooks," 
that  is,  books  designed  to  be  sold  by  chapmen  or  travel- 
ling traders.  These  were  of  every  sort,  as  Mr.  Thomas's 
advertisement  indicates.  Some  were  moral  or  prudential, 
but  many  aimed  simply  at  entertainment.  Jest  books  and 
garlands  (or  song-books)  abounded.  Many  an  old  romance 
—  like  Guy  of  Warwick  or  Bevis  of  Hampton  —  found  its 
last  redaction  in  a  condensed  prose  version  meant  to  be 
hawked  about  the  country.  One  of  the  most  singular 
transformations  of  this  kind  is  seen  in  the  fate  of  the  old 
tale  of  Barlaam  and  Joasaph.  This  was  originally  a  col- 

1  See  pp.  318  ff.,  below. 


138       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

lection  of  Buddhistic  parables,  but  it  gradually  came  to  be 
understood  as  a  Christian  legend,  and  its  popularity  in  this 
guise  led  to  the  admission  of  a  supposed  St.  Josaphat  into 
the  Calendar  of  the  Greek  Church,  —  a  saint  in  whom 
modern  investigators  have  somewhat  gleefully  recognized 
the  Buddha  himself,  the  founder  of  the  rival  religion  which 
has  of  late  sent  various  learned  and  picturesque  mission- 
aries to  our  shores.  Finally  the  tale  of  Barlaam  and 
Joasaph  turns  up  in  chapbook  form  as  the  History  of 
King  Jehoshaphat! 

The  Seven  Wise  Masters,  which  appears  in  Mr.  Thomas's 
list,  is  also  of  Oriental  origin  and  has  an  equally  long  and 
complicated  history.  It  gets  its  name  from  the  Seven 
Sages  to  whom  the  education  of  the  hero,  a  very  accom- 
plished prince,  has  been  entrusted.  The  prince  is  falsely 
accused  by  his  stepmother  and  condemned  to  death.  He 
cannot  defend  himself,  for  he  has  learned  by  inspecting 
the  stars  that  he  must  speak  no  word  for  a  week  on  pain 
of  instant  destruction.  As  he  is  being  led  to  the  scaffold, 
the  first  of  his  tutors  stops  the  king  and  warns  him  that  in 
putting  his  son  to  death  he  is  acting  as  foolishly  as  the 
knight  did  when  he  killed  his  hound.  Of  course  the  king 
asks  for  the  story,  and  the  Sage  agrees  to  tell  it  if  he  will 
give  the  prince  a  respite  for  one  day.  That  night  the 
queen  convinces  her  husband,  by  a  counter-story,  that 
he  is  being  tricked  by  his  advisers,  and  he  resolves  to 
have  his  son  executed  next  morning.  This  time  the 
second  Sage  intervenes,  and  secures  a  postponement  for 
another  day.  Thus  the  narrative  proceeds,  until  the 
week  is  past  and  the  prince  is  at  liberty  to  speak.  The 
queen  is  punished  and  the  Seven  Sages  meet  with  well- 
merited  honor.  The  reader  will  recognize  the  same  kind 
of  device  for  stringing  stories  together  that  is  familiar  to 
all  in  the  Arabian  Nights.  The  Seven  Sages  was  vastly 
popular  throughout  Europe  from  the  middle  ages  to 


THE   FLYING    STATIONER  139 

modern  times  and  it  deserved  its  popularity.  It  warms 
one's  heart  to  meet  with  this  old  favorite,  in  its  abbreviated 
chapbook  form,  on  the  shelves  of  the  early  New  England 
booksellers.  Michael  Perry,  of  Boston,  had  three  copies 
in  stock  when  his  inventory  was  taken  in  1700,  and  they 
were  valued  in  the  lump  at  two  shillings.  The  same 
document  shows  five  copies  of  the  History  of  Fortunatus, 
valued  at  three  shillings  and  fourpence,  and  one  copy  of 
Godfrey  of  Bulloigne,  valued  at  sixpence.  Perry  had  also 
nine  packs  of  playing  cards  on  hand,  as  well  as  a  good 
supply  of  sermons  and  theological  works.1 

A  good  many  chapbooks  were  reprinted  in  this  country 
in  the  eighteenth  and  the  early  nineteenth  century,  and 
there  were  also  not  a  few  of  American  origin.  Mr.  Thomas 
was  no  doubt  well  furnished  with  both  kinds. 

The  Almanac  itself  was  largely  circulated  by  the  itinerant 
booksellers,  and  in  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  January, 
1821,  there  is  a  lively  sketch  of  the  arrival  of  such  a 
chapman  at  a  farmer's  house  and  of  the  conversation 
between  him  and  the  daughter  of  an  old  customer.  "  Tim 
Twilight "  is  the  felicitous  name  assigned  to  the  merry 
itinerant :  — 

"  Bless  my  heart,  mother,  here  comes  old  Tim  Twilight  the 
pedler  again  to  wish  us  happy  new  year.  Well,  uncle  Tim,  it  is 
just  a  year  to  a  day  since  you  was  here  before  and  sold  me  The 
life  and  adventures  of  Betty  Buttermilk,  dairywoman  to  the 
Duchess  of  Dumhiedikes.  Come,  let 's  see,  what  have  ye  now, 
old  daddy?"  "Why,  my  pretty  damsel,  here's  the  works  of 
Sir  John  Sinclair,  the  great  Scotch  farmer.  Here  's  another  book 
called  The  Guide  to  Health.  Shewing  how  a  diligent  hand 
maketh  rich.  Here  's  another,  called  The  Great  Quiltrey  at 
farmer  Cleverly' s.  Hah  !  what  say  ye  to  reading  the  life  of 
My  Lady  Lummucks  ?  But  here  's  the  best  of  all,  my  Farmer's 

1  See  the  inventory  as  printed  by  Whitmore  in  his  edition  of  John 
Dunton's  Letters  from  New  England,  pp.  315,  316,  317. 


140      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Almanack.  ...  So  my  good  friends,  I  must  bid  you  good  bye. 
If  Providence  gives  me  leave,  I  '11  call  again  in  '22 —  you  may 
read  over  what  is  here  in  haste  penn'd  down ;  it  will  serve  to 
pass  a  winter  evening  or  so.  —  Good  bye." 

Tim  Twilight  sometimes  greeted  his  friends  and  cus- 
tomers in  rhyme.  So  in  January,  1822:  — 

"IN  eighteen  hundred  twenty-two, 
I  wish  my  friends  a  happy  'new- 
Year!    You  see,  I  've  got  more  Al- 
Manacks ;  so  thought  I  would  just  call 
And  say,  good  morning  to  ye,  honies  ! 
'T  is  for  no  favour  —  save  your  monies." 

"  Poh,  uncle  Tim,"  methinks  you  say,  "  give  us  no  more 
paltry  doggrel."  Well,  in  plain  prose,  gentlemen  and  ladies, 
you  see  here  !  come  again,  pop,  at  the  hour  !  I  'm  come  to  tell 
many  things  good,  and  many  things  not  so  very  good ;  but  the 
good  and  the  bad  in  everything  are  all  packed  up  together  now- 
a-days.  So  here  's  my  almanacks ;  they  've  cost  no  little  labour, 
I  '11  assure  ye.  "  Bless  me,"  cried  old  Betty  Winkle,  "  a  man 
must  have  a  monstrous  long  head,  to  make  all  these  'ere  calcula- 
tions." Ah,  good  woman,  indeed  he  must.  The  head  of  an 
almanack-maker  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  telescope,  reach- 
ing from  pole  to  pole,  and  of  sufficient  diameter  to  embrace  the 
whole  face  of  the  heavens  above,  and  the  earth  beneath !  The 
firmament  to  him  is  a  sort  of  checker- board,  and  the  earth  a  bowl- 
ing-green !  Come,  who  buys  my  wares  ?  Here  's  the  Sun,  Moon 
and  Stars  all  for  sale  ! 

And  again  in  1824:  — 

Through  drifting  snow  and  cutting  sleet 
I  Ve  truged  and  toiled  my  friends  to  greet ; 
And  tug'd  beneath  my  lumb'ring  gear 
To  wish  you  all  a  happy  year. 
Ye,  gentle  folks,  shall  I  unpack, 
The  precious  store  upon  my  back 


THE   FLYING  STATIONER  141 

My  wallet,  crowded  to  the  brim, 
And  all  the  wealth  of  Pedlar  Tim  f 
I  Ve  books  of  various  sorts  and  sizes ; 
Come,  buy,  just  as  your  fancy  prizes. 

Walk  up,  gemmen  !  Now 's  your  time  to  make  a  fortune! 
Come,  who  takes  this?  Here  is  a  Thacher's  Orchardist;  a 
book  that  ought  to  be  in  the  possession  of  every  farmer.  The 
price  one  dollar,  and  Capt.  Thrifty  says  he  would  give  five 
dollars  rather  than  be  without  one.  Here 's  another  excellent 
work,  a  Treatise  on  Gardening,  by  William  Cobbett,  the  great 
Porcupine  !  Be  not  afraid  of  his  quills.  The  tiger  is  softened 
to  the  lamb.  He  was  once  as  fierce  as  a  bull ;  but  now  he  is  as 
calm  as  a  sheep.  His  arrows  were  as  sharp  as  a  pitchfork ;  but, 
now  they  are  as  blunt  as  a  beetle  !  Now,  my  friends,  is  the 
time  to  read  books,  crack  nuts  and  tell  stories  —  so  here 's 
another  of  my  Almanacks,  which  contains  as  much  as  the  former 
ones,  and,  I  hope,  as  entertaining. 

In  1825  the  genial  itinerant  called  when  a  wedding  was 
in  progress  and  made  himself  quite  at  home:  — 

Say,  would  you  hear  what  fun  and  cheer 

We  had  at  Simon's  wedding,  O  ? 
'T  was  New-Year's  day,  we  pack'd  away 

And  thought  no  more  of  sledding,  O  — 

We  had  all  got  cleverly  together,  and  the  Parson  had  com- 
menced operations.  The  bow  was  already  fixed  around  cousin 
Simon's  neck  and  well  pinned  and  the  Parson  was  about  fetching 
the  bride  under  the  yoke,  when,  who,  the  deuce  should  interrupt 
us  but  old  Tim  Twilight,  the  peddler  !  "  Apropos,"  said  he,  as 
he  burst  in  upon  the  ceremony,  "  I  shall  now  find  a  market  for 
my  Treatise  on  Good-Housewifery."  "  Hush ! "  cried  aunt 
Molly.  "  Mum  !  "  said  uncle  Tim,  and  so  hush  it  was  to  the  end 
of  the  service.  Amen  !  said  the  parson,  "  amen,"  cried  uncle 
Tim.  "  And  now,  my  good  friends,  will  you  suffer  me  to 
introduce  the  contents  of  a  poor  peddler's  pack ;  and  give  me 


142  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

leave  to  say,  Sir  Simon,  that  the  next  thing,  after  a  wife,  is  an 
almanack.  This,  Sir,  is  the  chart  book  of  the  whole  voyage.  — 
Here  is  another  little  work  upon  butter  and  cheese  making. 
—  Here 's  the  Farmer's  Guide  and  here  's  the  Orchardist 
again  —  and  here  comes  the  very  tiptop  of  the  climax,  Dr. 
Dean's  Georgical  Dictionary.  Hah,  a  glass  of  wine  —  long  life 
to  matrimony." 

Tim's  wares  were  not  all  chapbooks.  Dr.  Dean's  Georgi- 
cal Dictionary,  for  instance,  is  a  substantial  volume,  to 
which  we  shall  return  on  another  occasion,1  and  the  book- 
peddler  in  Theodore  Sedgwick's  Hints  to  my  Countrymen, 
a  rambling  work  published  at  Boston  in  1826,  had  a  good 
deal  of  solid  literature  in  his  pack. 

Ballads  have  formed  a  part  of  the  peddler's  stock  in  trade 
from  time  immemorial,  and  we  may  be  sure  Tim  Twilight 
did  not  neglect  them.  There  is  a  good  scene  in  John 
Davis's  Travels  in  the  United  States  which  illustrates  this 
point.  Davis,  who  was  touring  on  foot  in  1801,  spent  the 
night  at  a  log-cabin  in  the  woods  of  Virginia  :  — 

We  had  breakfasted  next  morning,  and  the  old  man  was  gone 
to  cultivate  his  tobacco,  when  a  pedlar  came  to  the  door.  The 
appearance  of  Sam  Lace  lighted  up  joy  in  the  eyes  of  Mary  and 
Eliza. 

The  pedlar  first  exhibited  his  ballads.  "  Here,"  said  he,  "  is 
the  whole  trial,  examination,  and  condemnation  of  Jason  Fair- 
banks, who  was  executed  at  Philadelphia  for  cutting  off  Peggy 
Plackefs  head  under  a  hedge  on  the  road  to  Frankfort" 

Lord !  said  Eliza,  what  a  wicked  fellow.  I  would  not  live  in 
one  of  those  great  big  towns  for  all  the  world  !  But  I  wonder 
whether  it  is  true? 

True  !  replied  Mary,  certainly  it  is.  Don't  you  see  it  is  in 
print. 

"  And  here,'  cried  the  pedlar,  "  is  the  account  of  a  whale,  that 

1  See  p.  309,  below. 


THE   FLYING  STATIONER  143 

was  left  ashore  by  the  tide  in  the  bay  of  Chesapeak,  with  a  ship  of 
five  thousand  tons  in  his  belly,  called  the  Merry  Dane  of  Dover. 
She  was  the  largest  ship  ever  known." 

And  is  that  true  too  ?  said  Eliza, 

True  !  cried  Mary.  How  can  you  ask  such  a  question?  Do 
you  think  they  would  put  it  in  print  if  it  were  not  true  ? * 

Unfortunately  this  sketch  cannot  be  accepted  as  a  literal 
transcript  from  observation,  since  Davis,  who  was  an  ardent 
student  of  Shakspere,  has  copied  it  pretty  closely  from  a 
well-known  passage  in  The  Winter's  Tale.  Autolycus,  dis- 
guised as  a  peddler,  is  trafficking  with  the  shepherd's  son  at 
the  shearer's  feast,  and  Mopsa  begs  the  clown  to  buy  some 
ballads.  "  I  love  a  ballad  in  print  a-life,"  says  Mopsa, 
"  for  then  we  are  sure  they  are  true."  One  of  the  pieces 
offered  by  Autolycus  is  described  as  a  "  ballad  of  a  fish 
that  appeared  upon  the  coast,  on  Wednesday  the  four- 
score of  April,  forty  thousand  fathom  above  water,  and 
sung  this  ballad  against  the  hard  hearts  of  maids :  it  was 
thought  she  was  a  woman  and  was  turned  into  a  cold 
fish."  There  are  further  resemblances  between  Shak- 
spere and  our  jocose  traveller,  but  what  has  been  quoted 
will  suffice  to  show  Davis's  literary  method. 

Yet  Davis  is  not  inventing;  he  is  merely  exercising  the 
traveller's  long-recognized  right  to  embellish  facts  a  little. 
Jason  Fairbanks,  to  be  sure,  was  not  "executed  at  Phila- 
delphia for  cutting  off  Peggy  Placket's  head  under  a  hedge 
on  the  road  to  Frankfort " ;  but  he  was  executed  at  Ded- 
ham,  Massachusetts,  in  1801,  for  killing  Betsy  Fales  with 
a  penknife  in  a  field  near  her  father's  house.  This  case, 
which  presented  some  almost  inexplicable  features,  at- 
tracted much  attention  and  may  well  have  been  worked 
up  by  some  balladist,  according  to  a  custom  not  yet  quite 

1  Travels  in  the  United  States  of  America,  1798-1802,  London,  1803, 
PP-  351-2- 


144       THE  °LD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

obsolete.  It  certainly  gave  rise  to  a  very  curious  chap- 
book,  published  at  Dedham  in  1801,  —  "The  Solemn 
Declaration  of  the  late  Unfortunate  Jason  Fairbanks, 
from  the  Original  Manuscript,  composed  and  signed  by 
himself,  a  very  short  time  before  his  Death.  To  which 
is  added,  Some  Account  of  his  Life  and  Character.  .  .  . 
The  whole  collected  and  published  by  Ebenezer  Fair- 
banks, Jun.,  a  Farmer  of  Dedham."  1  A  Report  of  the 
Trial2  was  published  in  the  same  year  and  was  widely 
circulated. 

There  are  many  ballads  extant  from  the  early  New  Eng- 
land press.  An  odd  detail  with  regard  to  them,  as  well 
as  to  chapbooks,  is  preserved  by  the  late  Joseph  T.  Buck- 
ingham, and  his  reminiscence  has  to  do  with  the  decade 
in  which  the  Farmer's  Almanack  began  to  appear.  Mr. 
Buckingham  was  in  1796  an  apprentice  in  the  office  of 
Thomas  Dickman,  proprietor  of  the  Greenfield  (Massachu- 
setts) Gazette.  "  The  apprentices  (there  were  two  beside 
me)  had  the  privilege,"  he  says,  "  of  printing  such  small 
jobs  as  they  might  obtain,  without  interfering  with  the 
regular  business  of  the  office, —  and,  as  we  clubbed  our 
labors,  we  not  unfrequently  gathered  a  few  shillings  by 
printing  ballads  and  small  pamphlets  for  peddlers,  who,  at 
that  time,  were  tolerably  good  customers  to  country 
printers."3 

President  Dwight,  who  was  a  stern  moralist,  and  whose 
experience  with  the  peddlers  of  Connecticut  must  have 
been  extensive,  is  rather  severe  on  old  Tim  Twilight's 
brethren,  though  he  does  not  specify  the  trade  in  books. 
In  speaking  of  Suffield,  he  expostulates  with  fortune  in  his 
inimitably  dignified  manner:  — 

1  Dedham  :  from  the  Minerva  Press  of  H.  Mann,  and  sold  at  his  Office, 
and  by  E.  Fairbanks,  Jun.,  1801. 

2  Boston,  Printed  by  Russell  and  Cutler,  1801. 

8  Buckingham,  Personal  Memoirs  and  Recollections  of  Editorial  Life, 
Boston,  1852,  I,  26. 


THE   FLYING   STATIONER  145 

A  considerable  number  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  part  of  the 
State  have  for  many  years  employed  themselves  in  peddling  several 
kinds  of  articles,  of  small  value,  in  many  parts  of  this  country. 
The  proprietor  loads  with  these  one  or  more  horses ;  and  either 
travels  himself,  or  sends  an  agent,  from  place  to  place,  until  he 
has  bartered  or  sold  them.  In  expeditions  of  this  nature  con- 
siderable numbers  have  spent  no  small  part  of  their  lives. 

The  consequences  of  this  employment,  and  of  all  others  like  it, 
are  generally  malignant.  Men,  who  begin  life  with  bargaining 
for  small  wares,  will  almost  invariably  become  sharpers.  The 
commanding  aim  of  every  such  man  will  soon  be  to  make  a  good 
bargain  :  and  he  will  speedily  consider  every  gainful  bargain  as  a 
good  one.  The  tricks  of  fraud  will  assume,  in  his  mind,  the  same 
place,  which  commercial  skill  and  an  honourable  system  of  deal- 
ing hold  in  the  mind  of  a  merchant.  Often  employed  in  dis- 
putes, he  becomes  noisy,  pertinacious,  and  impudent.  A  great 
body  of  the  inhabitants  in  this  part  of  the  country  are  exempted 
from  any  share  in  these  remarks ;  and  sustain  the  same  respect- 
able character,  which  is  common  throughout  New-England.  Still, 
I  believe  this  unfortunate  employment  to  have  had  an  unhappy 
influence  on  both  the  morals,  and  manners,  of  the  people,  so  far 
as  it  has  extended. l 

We  maybe  sure  that  Tim  Twilight  was  a  different  kind  of 
person.  Mr.  Thomas  certainly  believed  in  him,  and  that 
too  in  spite  of  the  misfortunes  of  "  my  neighbour  Spinage," 
who,  according  to  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  October,  1830, 
"  last  season,  purchased  of  an  honest  pedlar  a  pound  of 
wooden  cucumber  seeds  !  " 

1  Travels  in  New-England  and  New-York,  New  Haven,  1821,  I,  306. 


FIRE! 

IN  1799  the  Almanac  contained  a  series  of  observations 
on  the  prevention  and  extinction  of  Fire.    They  are 
thought  to  be  the  work  of  Benjamin  Dearborn  (1745- 
1838),  and  are  particularly  amusing  from  their  anecdotical 
character. 

[  The  following  is  inserted  at  the  request  of  the  Massachusetts 
Charitable  Fire  Society.] 

DIRECTIONS  for  preventing  CALAMITIES  by  FIRE. 

1.  ~I^"EEP  your  chimnies  and  stove-pipes  clean,  by  sweep- 
J^.  ing  them  at  least  once  every  month. 

2.  Never  remove  hot  ashes  in  a  wooden  vessel  of  any  kind,  and 
look  well  to  your  ash-hole. 

3.  After  sweeping  a  hearth,  see  that  the  brush  does  not  retain 
any  particles  of  fire,  before  you  hang  it  up  in  its  usual  place. 

4.  Oblige  all  your  servants  to  go  to  bed  before  you,  every  night, 
and  inspect  all  your  fire-places,  before  you  retire  to  rest.  —  For 
fear  of  accidents,  let  a  bucket  of  water  be  left  in  your  kitchen  every 
night.     The  writer  of  these  directions  once  saved  his  house  from 
being  consumed  by  fire  by  this  precaution. 

5.  Do  not  permit  a  servant  to  carry  a  candle  to  his  bed-room, 
if  he  sleeps  in  an  unplastered  garret. 

6.  Cover  up  your  fire  carefully  every  night  in  ashes.     Let  the 
unburnt  parts  of  the  billets  or  chunks  of  wood,  be  placed  next 
the  hearth,  but  not  set  upright  in  the  corners,  by  which  means  no 
sparks  will  be  emitted  from  the  wood.     Pour  a  little  water  upon 
the  burning  ends  of  the  wood  which  are  not  completely  covered 
by  the  ashes.     Place  before  the  fire  a  fender  made  of  sheet  iron. 


Z        W 

w     « 

a        S 


FIRE!  147 

This  contrivance  was  well  known  in  England  many  years  ago,  by 
the  name  of  Coverfeu.  It  has  lately  received  (from  a  top  being 
added  to  it)  the  name  of  Hood. 

7.  Remove  papers  and  linen  from  near  the  fire  to  a  remote 
part  of  the  room. 

8.  Shut  the  doors  of  all  the  rooms  in  which  you  leave  fire  at 
night.     By  thus  excluding  the  supply  of  fresh  air,  you  will  prevent 
a  flame  being  kindled,  should  a  coal  or  spark  fall  upon  the  floor, 
or  upon  any  of  the  combustible  matter  in  the  room.     The  smoke 
which  issues  from  this  smothered  fire,  will  find  its  way  into  every 
part  of  the  house,  and  by  waking  the  family,  may  save  it  from 
destruction. 

9.  If  sickness  or  any  other  cause  should  oblige  you  to  leave  a 
candle  burning  all  night,  place  it  in  such  a  situation  as  to  be  out 
of  the  way  of  rats.     A  house  was  once  destroyed  by  a  rat  running 
away  with  a  lighted  candle  for  the  sake  of  the  tallow,  and  convey- 
ing it  into  a  hole  filled  with  rags,  and  inflammable  matter. 

10.  Never  read  in  bed  by  candle  light,  especially  if  your  bed 
be  surrounded  by  curtains. 

1 1 .  Strictly  forbid  the  use  of  segars  in  your  famfly  at  all  times, 
but  especially  after  night.     May  not  the  greater  frequency  of  fires 
in  the  United  States  than  in  former  years,  be  ascribed  in  part  to 
the  more  general  use  of  segars  by  careless  servants  and  children  ? 
— There  is  a  good  reason  to  believe  a  house  was  lately  set  on  fire 
by  a  half  consumed  segar,  which  a  woman  suddenly  threw  away 
to  prevent  being  detected  in  the  unhealthy  and  offensive  practice 
of  smoaking. 

In  case  of  fire  attend  to  the  following  directions,  to  prevent  or 
restrain  its  terrible  consequences. 

i.  Do  not  open  the  room  or  closet  door  where  you  suspect 
the  fire  to  be,  until  you  have  secured  your  family,  and  your  most 
valuable  effects,  nor  until  you  have  collected  a  quantity  of  water 
to  throw  on  the  fire,  the  moment  a  fresh  supply  of  air  excites  it 
to  a  flame.  Where  water  cannot  conveniently  be  had,  try  to 
smother  the  fire  by  throwing  two  or  three  blankets  over  it.  A 


148  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

British  sea  captain  once  saved  a  king's  ship  by  throwing  himself 
with  a  spread  blanket  in  his  arms,  upon  a  fire  which  had  broke 
out  near  the  powder  room.  He  was  pensioned  for  life,  for  this 
wise  and  meritorious  act. 

2.  In  case  it  be  impossible  to  escape  by  a  stair-case  from  a 
house  on  fire,  shut  the  door  of  your  bed-chamber,  and  wait  until 
help  can  be  brought  to  secure  your  escape  from  a  window. 

3.  If  safety  does  not  appear  probable  in  this  way,  wrap  your- 
selves up  in  a  blanket,  hold  your  breath,  and  rush  through  the 
flames.     If  water  be  at  hand,  first  wet  the  blanket. 

4.  To  prevent  fire   descending  from  the  roof,  or  ascending 
from  the  first  story,  form  by  means  of  blankets  or  carpets,  a  kind 
of  dam  on  each  of  the  intermediate  stories,  near  their  stair-case, 
that  shall  confine  the  water  that  is  thrown  upon  the  roof,  or  into 
the  windows.     It  will  effectually  check  the  progress  of  the  fire 
downwards  or  upwards  in  brick  or  stone  houses. 

5.  To  prevent  fire  spreading  to  adjoining  houses,  cover  them 
with  wet  blankets  or  carpets,  or  old  sails. 

6.  To  extinguish  fire  in  a  chimney,  shut  the  door  and  windows 
of  the  room.     Throwing  a  quart  or  more  of  common  salt  into  the 
fire.     Hold,  or  nail  a  wet  blanket  before  the  fire-place.     If  these 
means  fail,  throw  a  wet  blanket  down  the  chimney  from  the  roof 
of  the  house. 

There  is  a  method  used  in  some  countries  of  glazing  chimnies 
when  they  are  built,  by  burning  common  salt  in  them,  which  renders 
them  so  smooth  that  no  soot  can  adhere  to  them.  Chimnies  so  con- 
structed can  never  take  fire. 

Ladders  are  commonly  used  as  the  means  of  conveying  persons 
from  the  windows  of  houses  on  fire.  Would  not  a  long  and  stiff 
pole,  with  a  rope  fixed  on  its  upper  end,  be  more  portable,  and 
convenient  for  this  purpose? 

The  famous  Mr.  John  Wesley  when  a  child,  was  taken  out  of  a 
window  in  his  father's  house  whilst  in  flames,  by  one  man  stand- 
ing upon  the  shoulders  of  another.  This  practice  may  be 
used  to  rescue  persons  from  the  first  story  of  a  house  on  fire, 


FIRE !  149 

when  other  means  cannot  be  had  with  sufficient  convenience  or 
expedition. 

The  Massachusetts  Charitable  Fire  Society,  which  circu- 
lated the  Directions  just  given,  was  organized  in  1792,  in- 
corporated in  1794,  and  still  exists.  Its  object  was  to 
relieve  sufferers  by  fire,  and  to  promote  discussion  and 
invention  of  the  means  by  which  fires  may  be  prevented 
or  extinguished.  For  a  good  many  years  it  held  anni- 
versary exercises,  consisting  of  an  oration  and  an  ode,  but 
these  were  discontinued  in  1818.  Several  of  the  odes  were 
written  by  Robert  Treat  Paine,  Jr.,  who  changed  his  name 
from  Thomas  Paine  on  account  of  his  dislike  for  the  author 
of  the  Age  of  Reason.  The  celebrated  patriotic  songs, 
"Rise,  Columbia"  and  "Adams  and  Liberty,"  were  origi- 
nally written  by  Mr.  Paine  for  the  anniversary  celebration 
of  the  Fire  Society.  The  latter  was  set  to  the  tune  called 
"  To  Anacreon  in  Heaven,"  but  now  best  known  as  "  The 
Star  Spangled  Banner."  A  single  stanza  will  recall  this 
almost  forgotten  ode  to  the  memory  of  some  readers. 

Ye  Sons  of  Columbia,  who  bravely  have  fought, 

For  those  rights,  which  unstain'd  from  your  sires  had  descended, 
May  you  long  taste  the  blessings  your  valor  has  bought, 
And  your  sons  reap  the  soil  which  their  fathers  defended  ! 
Mid  the  reign  of  mild  peace, 
May  your  nation  increase, 

With  the  glory  of  Rome,  and  the  wisdom  of  Greece. 
And  no  Son  of  COLUMBIA  shall  e'er  be  a  slave, 
While  the  earth  bears  a  plant,  or  the  sea  rolls  a  wave.1 

Benjamin  Dearborn,  the  probable  author  of  the  Directions, 
was  an  early  member  of  the  society,  and  served  on  the 
Committee  on  Machines  almost  continuously  from  1794 
to  i8i8.2 

1  II.  H.  Sprague,  An  Old  Boston   Institution.     A  Brief  History  of  the 
Massachusetts  Charitable  Fire  Society.     Boston,  1893,  PP-  X7>  J^>  5^>  57>  95- 

2  Sprague,  p.  33. 


150          THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

It  should  be  remembered  that  the  danger  of  fire,  always 
sufficiently  terrible,  was  peculiarly  distressing  at  this  time, 
because  of  the  prevalence  of  frame  buildings,  and  also  be- 
cause of  the  lack  of  insurance  companies.  An  attempt  was 
made  to  found  a  fire  insurance  business  in  Boston,  in  1728, 
but  it  was  unsuccessful.  There  is  no  evidence  that  any 
building  in  Boston  was  insured  against  fire  before  1795, 
when  the  Massachusetts  Fire  Insurance  Company,  after- 
wards the  Massachusetts  Fire  and  Marine  Insurance  Com- 
pany, was  incorporated.  In  1798  the  Massachusetts  Mutual 
Fire  Insurance  Company  was  formed.  Rates,  however, 
in  the  shape  of  premiums  and  deposits,  were  so  high  that 
insurance  was  far  from  popular.  We  learn  that  the  Mutual 
Company  issued  "  seven-year  policies  at  fifty-five  cents  per 
hundred  on  single  wooden  buildings,  and  seventy  cents 
per  hundred  on  wooden  buildings  in  blocks,  while  thirty- 
five  and  forty-five  cents  per  hundred  were  charged  respec- 
tively on  single  and  double  buildings  of  brick  and  stone 
covered  with  slate  or  tile,  while  in  addition  deposits  of 
several  times  the  amount  charged  were  required."  l  It 
was  customary  to  raise  money  by  subscription  for  the 
partial  relief  of  sufferers. 

A  graphic  picture  of  a  fire  in  Boston  not  far  from  the 
time  when  Mr.  Dearborn's  Directions  were  published  in 
the  Almanac,  is  given  in  a  letter  written  December  27, 
1796,  by  William  Priest,  an  English  musician  who  was  em- 
ployed in  various  theatres  in  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  and 
Boston,  from  1793  to  1797:  — 

There  is  no  calamity  the  bostonians  so  much,  and  justly  dread, 
as  fire.  Almost  every  part  of  the  town  exhibits  melancholy  proofs 
of  the  devastation  of  that  destructive  element.  This  you  will  not 
wonder  at,  when  I  inform  you  that  three  fourths  of  the  houses  are 
built  with  wood,  and  covered  with  shingles,  thin  peices  of  cedar, 

1  Sprague,  pp.  16-17. 


FIRE  !  151 

nearly  in  the  shape,  and  answering  the  end  of  tiles.  We  have 
no  regular  fire- men,  or  rather  mercenaries,  as  every  master  of  a 
family  belongs  to  a  fire-company  :  there  are  several  in  town,  com- 
posed of  every  class  of  citizens,  who  have  entered  into  a  contract 
to  turn  out  with  two  buckets  at  the  first  fire  alarm,  and  assist  to 
the  utmost  of  their  power  in  extinguishing  the  flames,  without  fee 
or  reward. 

I  awoke  this  morning  about  two  o'clock  by  the  cry  of  fire,  and 
the  jingling  of  all  the  church  bells,  which,  with  the  rattling  of  the 
engines,  call  for  water,  and  other  et  ccetera  of  a  bostonian  fire- 
alarm,  form  a  concert  truly  horrible. 

As  sleep  was  impossible  under  such  circumstances,  I  immedi- 
ately rose,  and  found  the  town  illuminated.  When  the  alarm  is 
given  at  night,  the  female  part  of  the  family  immediately  place 
candles  in  the  windows.  This  is  of  great  service  in  a  town  where 
there  are  few  lamps. 

I  found  the  fire  had  broken  out  in  one  of  the  narrow  streets, 
and  was  spreading  fast  on  all  sides.  I  was  much  pleased  with  the 
regularity  observed  by  these  amateur  fire-men.  Each  engine  had 
a  double  row,  extending  to  the  nearest  water ;  one  row  passed 
the  full,  and  the  other  the  empty  buckets.  The  citizens  not  em- 
ployed at  the  engines  were  pulling  down  the  adjacent  buildings, 
or  endeavouring  to  save  the  furniture ;  their  behaviour  was  bold 
and  intrepid.  The  wind  blew  fresh  at  N.  W. ;  and  nothing  but 
such  uncommon  exertions  could  possibly  have  saved  the  town, 
composed,  as  it  is,  of  such  combustible  materials.  You  will  natu- 
rally inquire,  whether  they  have  no  other.  Yes,  brick  and  stone 
in  great  plenty  ;  but  the  cheapness  of  a  frame,  or  wooden  build- 
ing, is  a  great  inducement  for  the  continuance  of  this  dangerous 
practice  :  but  there  is  one  still  greater,  viz.  a  strange  idea,  uni- 
versal in  America,  that  wooden  houses  are  more  healthy,  and  less 
liable  to  generate  or  retain  contagious  infection  than  those  of 
brick  or  stone.  This  notion  has  been  ably  controverted  by  one 
of  their  best  writers,  but  with  little  effect ;  and,  like  all  other 
deep-rooted  prejudices,  will  not  easily  be  eradicated.1 

1  Travels  in  the  United  States  of  America,  London,  1802,  pp.  168-71. 


I$2  THE   OLD    FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

The  Directions  make  special  mention  of  fire-engines. 
There  were  in  1799  thirteen  of  these  machines,  new  and 
old,  in  Boston,  the  thirteenth  going  into  commission  on 
July  24th  of  that  year.1  They  were,  of  course,  hand- 
engines.  Mr.  Dearborn  himself,  being  of  an  inventive 
turn  of  mind,  was  much  interested  in  such  things.  In 
1781  he  communicated  to  the  American  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences  a  model  of  what  he  called  a  pump-engine, 
together  with  a  full  description,  which  was  published  in  the 
Memoirs  of  the  Academy  in  178$?  A  plate  accompanies 
Mr.  Dearborn's  article  and  enables  us  to  get  a  clear 
notion  of  his  curious  contrivance.  It  consisted  of  a  long 
vertical  tube,  which  could  be  attached  to  the  top  of  an 
ordinary  pump,  and  at  the  upper  end  of  which  there  was  a 
swinging  conductor,  managed  by  means  of  a  couple  of 
ropes.  "  I  have,"  writes  Mr.  Dearborn,  "  raised  a  tube  of 
30  feet  on  my  pump,  but  the  severity  of  the  season  pre- 
vents my  compleating  it;  having  so  far  executed  it  only, 
as  for  one  person  to  work  at  the  brake ;  I  can  myself 
throw  water  on  the  top  of  a  neighbouring  building,  the 
nearest  part  of  which  is  37  feet  from  the  pump,  and 
between  30  and  40  feet  high."  It  was  thought  that  this 
stationary  machine  might  be  of  use  in  private  families, 
something  like  a  fire-extinguisher  nowadays,  but  it  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  extensively  adopted.  In  the  next 
year  Mr.  Dearborn  applied  the  same  principles  of  construc- 
tion to  a  portable  engine,  which  is  figured  in  the  same 
volume.  The  advantages  which  he  claimed  for  his  inven- 
tion were  cheapness,  ease  of  manufacture,  and  economy 
of  labor  in  operation.  Apparently,  however,  it  never  got 
beyond  the  model  stage.  Mr.  Dearborn  also  devised  a 

1  A.   W.   Brayley,  Complete   History  of  the  Boston  Fire   Department, 
Boston,    1889,  p.    105 ;    cf.  Belknap's   letter,   Coll.   Mass.   Hist.   Soc.,   ist 
Series,  IV,  188. 

2  1,520. 


FIRE!  153 

"  ladder  and  receiver  "  and  a  "  leveller."  The  former  was 
a  primitive  kind  of  fire-escape,  consisting  of  a  ladder 
"  long  enough  to  reach  from  the  ground  to  the  chamber 
windows "  and  of  a  sliding  box  attached  to  the  ladder 
and  operated  by  ropes.  In  the  accompanying  description 
he  emphasizes  "  the  expedition  and  security  with  which 
persons  and  articles  may  be  transported  to  the  ground 
from  the  chamber  windows  of  a  house  on  fire  or  in 
danger."  The  leveller  was  an  implement  for  destroying 
buildings  by  tearing  out  the  posts,  sills,  and  beams. 
Models  of  both  inventions  were  deposited  with  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society,  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  contrivances  were  ever  put  to  a  practical  use.1 

One  of  the  most  surprising  of  the  anecdotes  in  Mr. 
Dearborn's  Directions  is  that  in  the  ninth  section:  — "A 
house  was  once  destroyed  by  a  rat  running  away  with  a 
lighted  candle  for  the  sake  of  the  tallow,  and  conveying  it 
into  a  hole  filled  with  rags,  and  inflammable  matter."  No 
one  can  fail  to  admire  the  address  and  agility  of  the  rat 
and  to  wonder  who  was  present  to  observe  his  feat.  Mr. 
Joseph  Willard  refers  with  much  pertinency  to  the  peril 
of  Judge  Sewall's  household,  as  set  forth  in  his  Diary  for 
"Midweek,"  July  13,  1709,  where  a  similar  exploit  is 
conjecturally  ascribed  to  a  mouse :  — 

Midweek,  July,  13.  1709.  N.  B.  Last  night,  between  2  or  3 
hours  after  midnight,  my  wife  complain'd  of  Smoak ;  I  presently 
went  out  of  Bed,  and  saw  and  felt  the  Chamber  very  full  of  Smoak 
to  my  great  Consternation.  I  slipt  on  my  Cloaths  except  Stock- 
ings, and  run  out  of  one  Room  into  another  above,  and  below 
Stairs,  and  still  found  all  well  but  my  own  Bed-chamber.  I  went 
into  Garret  and  rouz'd  up  David,  who  fetch'd  me  a  Candle.  My 
wife  fear'd  the  Brick  side  was  a-fire,  and  the  children  endangered. 
She  fled  thither,  and  call'd  all  up  there.  While  she  was  doing 
this,  I  felt  the  partition  of  my  Bed-chamber  Closet  warm ;  which 
1  Sprague,  pp.  45-46. 


154  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

made  me  with  fear  to  unlock  it,  and  going  in  I  found  the  Deal- 
Box  of  Wafers  all  afire,  burning  livelily ;  yet  not  blazing.  I  drew 
away  the  papers  nearest  to  it,  and  call'd  for  a  Bucket  of  Water. 
By  that  time  it  came,  I  had  much  adoe  to  recover  the  Closet 
agen  :  But  I  did,  and  threw  my  Water  on  it,  and  so  more,  and 
quench'd  it  thorowly.  Thus  with  great  Indulgence  GOD  saved 
our  House  and  Substance,  and  the  Company's l  Paper.  This 
night,  as  I  lay  down  in  my  Bed,  I  said  to  my  Wife,  that  the 
Goodness  of  God  appeared,  in  that  we  had  a  Chamber,  a  Bed, 
and  Company.  If  my  Wife  had  not  waked  me,  we  might  have 
been  consumed.  And  it  seems  admirable,  that  the  opening  the 
Closet-Door  did  not  cause  the  Fire  to  burst  forth  into  an  Un- 
quenchable Flame.  The  Box  was  18  inches  over,  Closet  full  of 
loose  papers,  boxes,  Cases,  some  Powder.  The  Window-Curtain 
was  of  Stubborn  Woolen  and  refus'd  to  burn  though  the  Iron-Bars 
were  hot  with  the  fire.  Had  that  burnt  it  would  have  fired  the  pine- 
shelves  and  files  of  Papers  and  Flask  and  Bandaliers  of  powder. 
The  Pine-Floor  on  which  the  Box  stood,  was  burnt  deep,  but  being 
well  plaister'd  between  the  Joysts,  it  was  not  burnt  through.  The 
Closet  under  it  had  Hundreds  of  Reams  of  the  Company's  Paper 
in  it.  The  plaistered  Wall  is  mark'd  by  the  Fire  so  as  to  resemble 
a  Chimney  back.  Although  I  forbad  mine  to  cry  Fire;  yet 
quickly  after  I  had  quench'd  it ;  the  Chamber  was  full  of  Neigh- 
bours and  Water.  The  smell  of  Fire  pass'd  on  me  very  much ; 
which  lasted  some  days.  We  imagine  a  Mouse  might  take  our 
lighted  Candle  out  of  the  Candle-stick  on  the  hearth  and  dragg 
it  under  my  closet-door  behind  the  Box  of  Wafers.  The  good 
Lord  sanctify  this  Threatening  ;  and  his  Parental  Pity  in  improv- 
ing our  selves  for  the  Discovery  of  the  Fire,  and  Quenching  it. 
The  Lord  teach  me  what  I  know  not ;  and  wherein  I  have  done 
amiss  help  me  to  doe  so  no  more  ! 2 

Mr.  Dearborn  shared  the  prejudice  of  his  age  against 
"  segars."     He  enquires  whether  "  the    greater  frequency 

1  Probably  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel. 

2  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  5th  Series,  VI,  257-9. 


FIRE!  155 

of  fires  in  the  United  States  than  in  former  years,  may  not 
be  ascribed  in  part  to  the  more  general  use  of  segars  by 
careless  servants  and  children?"  and  adds  "There  is  eood 

o 

reason  to  believe  a  house  was  lately  set  on  fire  by  a  half- 
consumed  segar,  which  a  woman  suddenly  threw  away  to 
prevent  being  detected  in  the  unhealthy  and  offensive 
practice  of  smoaking."  It  was  no  new  thing  for  women  to 
smoke.  Mrs.  Rowlandson's  interview  with  King  Philip, 
when  he  politely  offered  her  a  pipe,  will  be  described  in  a 
later  chapter,  and  we  shall  see  that  she  declined  his  cour- 
tesy because  she  had  overcome  her  former  appetite  for 
tobacco.1  But  the  cigar,  being  still  something  of  a  novelty, 
was  regarded  with  peculiar  disapproval  by  the  more  staid 
and  conservative  members  of  the  community.  At  almost 
the  very  moment  when  Mr.  Dearborn  was  penning  his 
cautionary  Directions,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts 
was  busy  with  an  Act  to  Secure  the  Town  of  Boston  from 
Damage  by  Fire  (i798).2  This  act  forbade  carrying  fire 
through  the  streets,  except  in  a  covered  vessel,  as  well  as 
smoking,  or  having  in  one's  possession  "  any  lighted  pipe 
or  segar  "  in  the  streets  or  on  the  wharves.  The  penalty 
was  fixed  at  two  dollars,  or,  if  the  offense  was  committed 
in  any  ropewalk,  at  from  five  to  one  hundred  dollars. 
These  provisions  were  really  but  a  modification  of  a  much 
older  law.  In  1638  the  General  Court  ordered  "  that  no 
man  shall  take  any  Tobacco  within  twenty  Poles  of  any 
House,  or  so  near  as  may  endanger  the  same."  3  To  "  fetch 
fire  "  from  a  neighbor's  when  one's  own  hearth  was  cold 
was  a  regular  thing  in  the  days  of  the  troublesome  flint 
and  steel.  It  even  passed  into  a  proverb.  One  who  made 
a  hasty  visit  was  said  to  be  "in  as  great  a  hurry  as  if  he 
had  come  to  fetch  fire."  So  in  Chaucer,  when  Troilus 

1  See  p.  370,  below. 

2  Acts  of  1798,  chap.  27,  sects.  6,  7. 
8  Laws,  edition  of  1672,  p.  146. 


156      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

proposes  to  cut  short  his  visit  to  Sarpedon,  Pandarus  asks 
reproachfully  — 

"  Be  we  comen  hider 
To  fecchen  fyr  and  rennen  hom  ayeyn  ?  "  x 

The  danger  of  this  custom  is  plain  enough  and  was  soon 
felt  by  the  inhabitants  of  Boston.  In  1658  an  order  was 
passed  to  restrain  it :  — 

Whereas  many  careless  persons  carry  fire  from  one  house  unto 
another  in  open  fire  pans  or  brands  ends,  by  reason  of  which 
greatt  damage  may  accrew  to  the  towne ;  It  is  therefore  ordered 
that  no  person  shall  have  liberty  to  carry  fire  from  one  house  to 
another,  without  a  safe  vessell  to  secure  itt  from  the  wind,  upon 
the  pcenalty  of  ten  shillings  to  bee  paid  by  every  party  so  fetching, 
and  halfe  so  much  by  those  that  permitt  them  so  to  take 
fire.2 

To  smoke  in  the  streets  was  simply  a  special  variety  of 
"  carrying  fire."  The  peril  of  the  lighted  cigar  has  long 
ceased  to  agitate  the  fathers  of  the  Commonwealth.  The 
prohibition  remained  in  the  statutes  till  1880,  when  it  was 
repealed.3  It  had  long  been  a  dead  letter,  and  the  Fire 
Commissioners  of  Boston,  who  were  consulted  by  the  legis- 
lators before  they  decided  to  annul  it,  declared  that  they 
were  quite  willing  to  have  it  disappear. 

A  racy  portrait  of  a  rural  cigar-smoker,  from  the 
Farmer's  Calendar  for  August,  1836,  may  serve  as  an 
epilogue.  The  compound  noun  with  which  it  concludes 
is  worthy  of  Aristophanes. 

See,  what  a  puffing- pig  Bob  Linchpin  has  got  to  be  !  It  was 
about  a  year  and  a  half  ago,  when  he  had  not  yet  become 

1  Troilus,  book  v,  stanza  70. 

2  Boston  Town  Records,  in  Second  Report  of  Record  Commissioners, 
ad  ed.,  1881,  p.  147. 

3  See  Acts  of  1818,  chap.  171,  sect.  10,  and,  for  the  repeal,  Acts  of  1880, 
chap.  38. 


FIRE !  157 

acquainted  with  the  ton  of  the  city,  that  Robert  went  there  to 
market,  and  to  see  a  cousin  or  two.  He  carried  down  butter  and 
eggs,  and  a  few  other  articles  of  the  produce  of  his  father's  farm. 
Poor  soul !  He  will  rue  the  day  that  he  ever  fell  among  dandies. 
But  so  it  was,  for  his  cousins  were  altogether  for  being  bursters; 
and  Bob  was  initiated  into  a  clan  of  these  mutton-faced  non- 
essentials.  So,  our  friend's  name  was  changed  from  clever 
Robert  to  flashy  Bob ;  and,  among  other  things  of  fashionable 
consequence,  he  learned  to  wield  a  real  Spanish.  Whif !  see  the 
columns,  as  they  roll  away  and  bring  to  view  his  bumps  of  self- 
esteem  !  Poor  Bobby,  how  changed  from  a  right-down,  plain, 
honest  plough-jogger  to  a  tippy-dazzlem-fogo-combustibus  ! 


"  DROWNED  !     DROWNED  !  " 

SOMETIME  in  the  Spring  of  1787,  or  '88,  a  young  gentleman 
at  Georgetown,  who  could  not  swim,  accompanied  by  one  or 
more  of  his  companions,  went  into  the  river  to  bathe ;  he 
unfortunately  stepped  from  a  bank  of  sand,  beyond  his  depth,  and 
was  drowned.  Attempts  were  immediately  made  in  various  ways 
to  obtain  the  body,  by  diving  after  it,  searching  with  boat-hooks, 
poles,  etc.  and  by  a  dragging  seine ;  but  all  of  them  proved  inef- 
fectual. Similar  exertions  were  made  next  day  without  success. 

A  gentleman  mentioned,  that  he  had  read  of  the  bodies  of 
drowned  persons  being  discovered  by  means  of  quicksilver, 
placed  in  a  quill,  and  attached  to  a  loaf  of  warm  bread.  —  This 
appeared  so  chimerical  a  project,  that  the  bystanders  ridiculed  the 
idea.  He  observed  that  the  experiment  might  easily  be  made, 
and  could  do  no  injury.  A  quill  was  prepared,  filled  with  quick- 
silver, and  inserted  in  a  loaf  of  warm  bread. 

Some  persons  then  got  into  a  boat,  and  placed  the  bread  on  the 
water  so  as  to  be  carried  with  the  current  in  a  direction  towards  the 
body;  when  it  had  floated  10  or  15  yards,  it  became  stationary, 
and  in  a  short  time  the  body  ascended  and  floated  on  the  top  of 
the  water,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  the  multitude  of  specta- 
tors. The  body  had  laid  under  water  about  16  or  18  hours. 

The  experiment  above  recorded  deserves  a  trial  on  similar 
occasions,  and  might  even  be  the  means  of  restoring  life,  by  dis- 
covering drowned  bodies  soon  after  they  have  disappeared. 

May  not  this  singular  phenomenon  be  accounted  for  in  this 
simple  manner?  The  bread  is  carried  down  by  the  current  till  it 
comes  within  the  sphere  of  attraction  between  the  body  and  the 
quicksilver :  it  is  then  brought  by  the  same  attraction  over  the 
body ;  and  the  specific  gravity  of  the  body  being  but  little  greater 


DROWNED!  DROWNED!  159 

than  that  of  the  water,  by  the  attraction  of  the  quicksilver,  a  sub- 
stance of  very  great  specific  gravity  and  proportionate  attraction, 
the  body  rises  to  the  surface  of  the  water. 

The  method  of  discovering  the  situation  of  a  drowned 
man  described  in  the  article  just  quoted  from  the  Almanac 
for  1796  seems  to  have  been  rather  common  in  different 
countries,  and,  in  one  form  or  another,  must  be  pretty  old. 
In  the  Upper  Palatinate  the  peasantry  believe  that  if  the 
person's  name  is  written  on  a  piece  of  bread,  this  will  float 
to  the  place  where  the  body  lies  and  then  remain  station- 
ary. In  Bohemia  the  name  is  omitted ;  a  consecrated 
candle  is  lighted  and  stuck  into  a  hole  in  the  bread,  which, 
as  in  the  Georgetown  anecdote,  must  be  fresh.1  Here,  as  in 
the  example  from  the  Palatinate,  the  process  is  manifestly 
of  an  occult  character.  In  the  one  case,  the  success  of  the 
experiment  depends  on  the  mysterious  efficacy  of  the  con- 
secration. In  the  other,  we  may  discern  the  widespread 
belief  in  the  sympathetic  and  essential  connection  between 
the  name  and  the  person  who  bears  it.  This  is  a  belief 
which  underlies  an  almost  countless  number  of  supersti- 
tions. The  berserk  Klaufi,  in  an  Icelandic  saga,  is  de- 
prived of  his  demonic  strength  when,  in  the  course  of  a 
fierce  struggle,  some  one  calls  him  by  name :  "  Klaufi ! 
Klaufi !  govern  your  rage  !  "  A  werewolf  is  instantly  re- 
stored to  his  proper  human  shape  if  his  right  name  is 
mentioned  in  his  hearing.  The  most  powerful  spirits  are 
controllable  by  the  magician  who  knows  their  names.  The 
true  name  of  Rome  was  said  to  be  kept  a  secret,  lest  the 
enemy,  learning  it,  might  employ  it  in  spells  to  call  away 
the  deities  that  protected  the  Eternal  City. 

In  the  Almanac,  it  will  be  noted,  an  attempt  is  made  to 
account  for  the  phenomena  on  scientific  principles,  and 
perhaps,  as  in  so  many  cases,  there  is  in  the  customs  de- 

1  Wuttke,  Der  deutsche  Volksaberglaube,  2d  ed.,  Berlin,  1869,  §  371,  p.  239. 


160      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

scribed  a  union  of  observation  and  experience  with  magical 
principles  of  long  standing.  In  the  Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine for  April,  1767, ,l  not  very  long  before  the  date  of  the 
Almanac,  is  recorded  an  occurrence  which  closely  resembles 
that  which  is  said  to  have  taken  place  at  Georgetown.  It 
is  worth  quoting  for  its  picturesqueness,  even  if  it  slightly 
exceeds  the  limits  of  probability  :  — 

An  inquisition  was  taken  at  Newbery,  Berks,  on  the  body  of  a 
child  near  2  years  old,  who  fell  into  the  river  Kennet,  and  was 
drowned.  The  jury  brought  in  their  verdict  Accidental  Death.  — 
The  body  was  discovered  by  a  very  singular  experiment,  which 
was  as  follows :  After  diligent  search  had  been  made  in  the  river 
for  the  child,  to  no  purpose,  a  two-penny  loaf,  with  a  quantity  of 
quicksilver  put  into  it,  was  set  floating  from  the  place  where  the 
child,  it  was  supposed,  had  fallen  in,  which  steered  its  course 
down  the  river  upwards  of  half  a  mile,  before  a  great  number  of 
spectators,  when  the  body  happening  to  lay  on  the  contrary  side 
of  the  river,  the  loaf  suddenly  tacked  about,  and  swam  across  the 
river,  and  gradually  sunk  near  the  child,  when  both  the  child  and 
loaf  were  immediately  brought  up,  with  grablers  ready  for  that 
purpose. 

The  Indians  of  Canada,  according  to  Sir  James  Alex- 
ander, use  a  chip  of  cedar,  which,  they  suppose,  "  will  stop 
and  turn  round  over  the  exact  spot"  where  the  body  lies. 
Sir  James  adds  that  he  has  known  of  an  instance  in  which 
this  was  tfied  with  complete  success.  Similarly  a  cricket 
bat,  we  are  told,  was  thrown  into  the  Thames  near  the 
place  at  which  an  Eton  scholar  had  been  seen  to  go  down. 
"  It  floated  to  a  spot  where  it  turned  round  in  an  eddy,  and 
from  a  deep  hole  underneath  the  body  was  quickly  drawn." 
Here  natural  causes  may  well  be  appealed  to,  as  is  done  by 
a  sensible  commentator  in  Notes  and  Queries: — "As  there 

1  XXXVII,  189.  This  and  other  instances  may  be  found  in  Choice 
Notes  from  Notes  and  Queries,  London,  1859,  pp.  40-42. 


DROWNED  !    DROWNED  !  l6l 

are  in  all  running  streams  deep  pools  formed  by  eddies,  in 
which  drowned  bodies  would  be  likely  to  be  caught  and 
retained,  any  light  substance  thrown  into  the  current  would 
consequently  be  drawn  to  that  part  of  the  surface  over  the 
centre  of  the  eddy  hole."  l 

In  the  fine  old  ballad  of  Young  Hunting2  the  slain  knight 
is  cast  into  the  deepest  pot  in  Clyde  Water,  "  with  a  green 
turf  upon  his  breast,  to  hold  that  good  lord  down."  The 
murderess  is  so  confident  in  the  efficacy  of  this  weight 
upon  his  breast  that  she  does  not  hesitate  to  express  a  fear 
that  he  is  drowned  in  Clyde.  The  king  sends  for  his 
"  duckers,"  but  they  dive  for  the  body  in  vain.  At  last  a 
bonny  bird  that  is  flying  above  their  heads  speaks  and 
discloses  the  secret :  - 

"  O  he  's  na  drownd  in  Clyde  Water, 

He  is  slain  and  put  therein; 
The  lady  that  lives  in  yon  castil 
Slew  him  and  put  him  in. 

"  Leave  aff  your  ducking  on  the  day, 

And  duck  upon  the  night  ; 
Whear  ever  that  sakeless  knight  lys  slain, 
The  candels  will  shine  bright." 

Thay  left  off  their  ducking  o  the  day, 

And  ducked  upon  the  night, 
And  where  that  sakeless  knight  lay  slain, 

The  candles  shone  full  bright. 

The  deepest  pot  intill  it  a' 

Thay  got  Young  Hunting  in  ; 
A  green  turff  upon  his  brest, 

To  hold  that  good  lord  down. 

Here  the  candles  may  have  been  real  candles  inserted  in 
loaves  of  bread  and  balanced  with  quicksilver,  as  already 

1  See  Choice  Notes,  p.  43. 

2  Child,  English  and  Scottish  Popular  Ballads,  No.  68  A,  II,  145. 

11 


162 

described,  or  the  reference  may  be  to  the  "  corpse  lights  " 
which  were  believed  to  hover  over  the  resting  place  of  the 
unquiet  dead.  The  ballad  is  not  explicit. 

In  1795  the  Almanac  prints  certain  recommendations  of 
the  Massachusetts  Humane  Society  to  be  followed  in  cases 
of  apparent  death  from  drowning:  - 

As  accidents  of  drowning  frequently  occur,  and  as  it  is  very 
necessary  that  every  family  should  be  acquainted  with  the  best 
method  of  proceeding  in  such  cases,  we  have  inserted  the  follow- 
ing 

DIRECTIONS 

For  recovering  persons  apparently  dead  from  drowning : 

as  recommended  by  the  HUMANE  SOCIETY. 
Convey  the  person  to  the  nearest  convenient  house,  with  his 
head  raised ;  strip  and  dry  him  as  quick  as  possible  ;  clean  the 
mouth  and  nostrils  from  froth  and  mud ;  if  it  is  a  child,  let  him 
be  placed  between  two  persons  naked,  in  a  hot  bed ;  but  if  an 
adult,  lay  him  on  a  hot  blanket  or  bed,  and  in  cold  weather  near 
a  fire  —  in  warm  weather,  the  air  should  be  freely  admitted  into 
the  room.  The  body  is  next  to  be  gently  rubbed  with  warm 
woollen  cloths  sprinkled  with  spirits,  if  at  hand,  otherwise  dry ;  a 
heated  warming  pan  may  be  lightly  moved  over  the  back  properly 
covered  with  a  blanket ;  and  the  body,  if  of  a  child,  to  be  gently 
shook  every  few  minutes. 

Then  follow  directions  for  the  injection  of  tobacco  smoke. 
There  is  no  suggestion  of  the  means  employed  nowadays 
for  producing  artificial  respiration. 

Bathe  the  breast  with  hot  rum,  and  persist  in  the  use  of  these 
means  for  several  hours.  If  no  signs  of  life  should  then  appear, 
let  the  body  be  kept  warm  for  several  hours  longer,  with  hot 
bricks,  or  vessels  of  hot  water  applied  to  the  palms  of  the  hands, 
and  soles  of  the  feet,  and  this  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  as 
the  circumstances  of  the  case  may  dictate. 


DROWNED  !    DROWNED  !  163 

The  Massachusetts  Humane  Society  (like  the  Charitable 
Fire  Society,  whose  recommendations  were  printed  in  the 
Almanac  for  1799)  1  was  one  of  the  earliest  charitable  asso- 
ciations founded  in  this  part  of  the  world.  It  was  instituted 
in  1785,  definitely  organized  in  the  next  year,  at  the  Bunch 
of  Grapes  Tavern  in  State  Street,  and  incorporated  in  1791. 
Its  prime  object  was,  and  is,  to  save  life,  especially  in  cases 
of  shipwreck  or  drowning.  It  erected  huts  or  shelters  at 
exposed  places  on  the  coast,  gave  rewards  for  rescues,  and 
encouraged  the  invention  of  lifeboats  and  life-saving  appa- 
ratus. In  1792  it  began  an  agitation  for  the  building  of  a 
lighthouse  at  some  point  on  Cape  Cod.  It  is  hard  to  real- 
ize that  this  dangerous  coast  was  so  little  protected  in  those 
days.  From  the  outset,  however,  the  Society  was  particu- 
larly interested  in  the  means  of  restoring  suspended  anima- 
tion. We  shall  not  be  far  wrong  if  we  ascribe  its  foundation 
to  the  intense  interest  felt  toward  the  close  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  in  the  obscure  question  of  the  boundary 
between  life  and  death.  This  matter  had  been  much  can- 
vassed by  the  English  Humane  Society,  which  was  founded 
in  1774,  and  a  large  number  of  cases  had  been  collected 
and  printed  in  which  drowned  persons  had  been  brought 
to  life  when  all  traces  of  animation  had  vanished.  A  simi- 
lar association  at  Amsterdam  had  done  good  work  in  the 
same  direction,  and  the  proceedings  of  this  body  had  been 
published  in  an  English  translation  by  Dr.  Thomas  Cogan 
(1773).  The  period  immediately  following  the  Revolution 
was  fertile  in  projects.  It  was  an  era  of  intellectual  activity 
in  America,  and  the  foundation  of  the  Humane  Society 
was  a  gratifying  testimony  to  the  readiness  of  New  England 
to  act  on  the  impulse  of  a  good  idea. 

The  Directions  for  resuscitation  published  in  the  Alma- 
nac for  1795  remained  for  some  time  the  code  of  the  So- 
ciety. They  will  be  seen  to  differ  in  essential  points  from 

1  See  pp.  146  ff.,   above. 


1 64  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

those  now  issued  by  the  same  organization.  The  use  of 
tobacco  smoke,  strange  as  it  seems  to  us,  was  regarded 
as  of  prime  importance  in  the  eighteenth  century.  It  is 
dwelt  on  in  the  elaborate  and  highly  interesing  treatise  on 
Drowning  by  Dr.  Rowland  Jackson  (London,  1746),*  and 
the  Amsterdam  Society  endorsed  it  heartily.  The  opinion 
in  its  favor  was  confirmed  by  the  testimony  of  Dr.  Bulfinch, 
in  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Massachusetts  Society  in  1792, 
to  the  effect  that  the  American  Indians  used  it  to  re- 
vive the  drowned.  Gradually,  however,  doubts  arose  as 
to  its  efficacy.  In  1794  the  medical  committee  of  the  So- 
ciety reported  in  its  favor,2  but  the  very  fact  that  the  ques- 
tion had  been  referred  to  them  indicates  that  scruples  were 
making  themselves  felt.  In  1805  tobacco  smoke  is  dropped 
from  the  official  recommendations,  and  two  years  later  the 
Rev.  William  Emerson,  in  his  address  to  the  Society,  de- 
nounces its  employment  as  absurd  and  harmful.  As  early 
as  1801,  the  necessity  of  inducing  respiration  by  artificial 
means  is  recognized,  and  the  directions  to  this  end  gradually 
became  more  elaborate,  until  they  reached  the  form  in 
which  they  are  now  familiar  to  everyone.  In  the  same 
year,  1801,  electricity  is  recommended. 

In  1805  the  Almanac  contains  a  report  of  an  interesting 
case  of  resuscitation :  — 

On  res  faring  life  to  DROWNED  PEOPLE  by  means  of  warm 
ashes,  as  related  by  Mr.  Solomon  Rockwell,  of  Winchester,  in  a 
letter  to  the  Editors  of  the  Connecticut  Courant. 

On  Monday,  the  gth  day  of  July,  1804,  a  child  of  Mr.  Caleb 
Munson,  about  fifteen  months  old,  was  taken  out  of  the  water  ap- 
parently dead.  From  the  place  where  it  fell  in  it  had  floated 
down  the  stream  about  sixty  feet  in  a  swift  current  through  a  gate 
hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  mill  trough,  where  the  water  falls  six 

1  Physical  Dissertation  upon  Drowning,  pp.  44-47. 

2  Statement  of  Premiums,  etc.,  1829,  pp.  48,  49. 


DROWNED  !  DROWNED!  165 

feet,  and  was  found  lodged  in  trash  under  water.  It  must  have 
been  in  the  water  at  least  fifteen  minutes,  and  it  was  the  universal 
opinion  of  those  present,  that  any  attempt  to  restore  it  to  life 
would  be  totally  unavailing.  I  however  determined  to  try  the  ex- 
periment of  ashes ;  accordingly  I  had  its  clothes  taken  off,  spread 
some  warm  ashes  taken  from  the  fire-place,  on  flannel,  and  wrapped 
the  child  in  the  flannel,  with  the  ashes  next  its  skin ;  ordered 
tobacco  smoke  to  be  injected  into  its  body,  and  soon  applied  an 
addition  of  hot  ashes  directly  to  its  bowels.  After  operating  in 
this  way  about  eight  or  ten  minutes,  together  with  blowing  into 
its  mouth,  to  the  astonishment  of  all  present,  signs  of  life  began 
to  appear,  and  water  in  large  quantities  issued  from  his  mouth. 
A  potion  of  physic  was  given  him  in  about  two  hours,  and  in  about 
twenty-four  hours  he  was  able  to  walk,  and  is  now  entirely  recov- 
ered :  (four  days  after.)  This  successful  experiment  ought  to 
operate  as  a  caution  to  all  who  read  the  account  not  to  abandon 
too  hastily  to  their  fate  those  who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  be 
drowned ;  but  to  make  trial  of  the  most  approved  means  in  cir- 
cumstances where  there  is  the  least  possibility  of  success. 

The  Physical  Dissertation  upon  Drowning,  by  Dr.  Row- 
land Jackson,  deserves  another  word.  Its  collection  of 
cases  is  vastly  curious.  Many  are  quite  credible,  but  a 
number  of  them  show  that  scientific  investigation  was  still 
a  desideratum  in  1746.  Dr.  Jackson  entertained  extrava- 
gant notions  of  the  length  of  time  after  which  one  might 
bring  a  drowned  man  to  life.  He  tells  of  a  fisherman 
who  "  by  means  of  the  ice  "  was  kept  under  water  for  three 
days,  and  yet  came  to  life.  The  man  remembered  that  "  a 
large  Bladder  had  been  form'd  about  his  Head  for  his 
Preservation."  This  sounds  like  miracle.  At  all  events 
the  learned  doctor  does  not  try  to  account  for  the  bladder. 
A  similar  formation  protected  the  mouth  of  a  Swedish 
gardener  who  had  a  like  incredible  adventure.  Then  there 
was  a  Swedish  woman  who  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy-four, 
though  she  had  been  "thrice  drowned,"-  — remaining  three 


1 66  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

days  under  water  on  the  first  occasion.  But  these  examples 
fade  into  insignificance  before  the  strange  case  of  Laurence 
Jones,  whose  funeral  sermon  the  learned  Burmann  had 
listened  to.  According  to  the  preacher,  Jones,  when  six- 
teen years  old,  fell  into  the  water  and  remained  there  for 
seven  weeks,  but  recovered,  and  lived  to  be  seventy.  Even 
Dr.  Jackson  is  a  little  doubtful  of  the  accuracy  of  these 
figures,  though  why,  he  asks,  should  the  learned  Burmann 
misrepresent  the  words  of  the  preacher,  and  why  should 
the  preacher  tell  a  lie?1 

It  is  easy  to  laugh  at  such  stories,  but  after  all  their 
moral  was  a  good  one.  The  hasty  inference  that  a  man  is 
dead  because  he  has  stopped  breathing  had  cost  the  world 
a  countless  number  of  valuable  lives,  and  needed  drastic 
correction.  A  little  hyperbole  could  do  no  harm. 

It  may  be  added  that  for  a  long  time  the  true  cause  of 
death  by  drowning  was  not  understood.  A  venerable  in- 
stance of  this  misapprehension  occurs  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
epic  of  Beowulf.  There  the  hero  takes  a  long  dive  to  the 
bottom  of  a  haunted  pool  and  enters  a  subaqueous  hall, 
where  he  performs  a  very  valorous  exploit.  As  soon  as  he 
enters  the  hall,  he  is  quite  at  his  ease.  The  water,  we  are 
told,  could  not  get  in  to  injure  him.  Here  is  the  gist  of 
the  whole  matter.  The  theory  was  that  a  man  was  drowned 
because  the  water  did  him  some  harm  rather  than  because 
he  had  nothing  to  breathe.  Hence  the  efficacy  of  the 
"  bladder  "  that  formed  before  the  mouth  of  the  fisherman 
whom  Dr.  Jackson  tells  of.  Even  the  eminent  physicist 
Boyle  was  in  doubt  "  whether  an  animal  in  an  exhausted 
receiver  dies  for  want  of  air,  or  because  of  the  compression 
of  the  lungs"  and  in  1665  suggested  an  experiment  to  dis- 
cover the  facts.2  And  the  Royal  Society  entertained  the 
idea  that  "a  kind  of  new  air"  made  by  the  "operation  of 

1  Jackson,  pp.  7,  10,  n,  15-16. 

2  Birch,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  II,  31. 


DROWNED  !    DROWNED  !  1 67 

distilled  vinegar  upon  the  powder  of  oister-shells  "  might 
be  "convenient  for  respiration"  and  afford  a  means  of 
breathing  under  water.1 

In  1794  the  Massachusetts  Magazine  printed  a  letter, 
dated  January,  1789,  from  a  member  of  the  Humane 
Society  which  suggested  an  extension  of  the  method  of 
resuscitation  then  practised  to  cases  of  apparent  death  by 
cold.  The  writer  had  found  that  apples  might  be  pre- 
served by  frost  and  had  seen  potatoes  ploughed  up  in  the 
spring  "  which  had  lain  all  winter  in  the  ground,  and  were 
as  sound  and  good,  though  frequently  frozen,  as  those  that 
were  dug  in  the  fall  of  the  year."  A  snake  too,  he  said, 
might  "  freeze  so  hard  and  stiff  that  it  will  break  like  a 
pipe-stern"  and  yet  would  come  to  life  again.  He  like- 
wise appealed  to  the  hibernation  of  swallows,  which  were 
believed  to  spend  the  winter  at  the  bottom  of  ponds,  either 
frozen  or  buried  in  the  mud,  and  to  emerge  in  the  spring.2 
Some  days  before,  the  writer  had  seen  the  bodies  of  "  eight 
or  ten  stout  men,  frozen  hard  as  rocks,"  and  the  melan- 
choly spectacle  set  him  thinking.  He  ventured  to  suggest 
that  it  might  not  be  amiss  to  disinter  one  of  the  bodies 
and  endeavor  to  resuscitate  it.3  His  proposals  came  to 
nothing,  but  they  remain  as  a  record  of  the  speculative 
activity  of  men's  minds  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  —  a  disposition  to  which  the  world  owes  much. 

1  Birch,  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  II,  25,  26. 

2  See  a  paper  on  this  phenomenon  in  the   Memoirs  of  the  American 
Academy,  1785,  I,  494. 

3  Massachusetts  Magazine  for  January,  1794,  VI,  23-25. 


HUSKINGS  AND   OTHER  AMUSEMENTS 

ADMIRAL  BARTHOLOMEW  JAMES  of  the 
Royal  Navy,  during  his  excursion  on  the  Kennebec 
River,  in  1791,  when  he  was  a  captain  in  the  mer- 
chant service,  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  present  at  a 
husking  at  Vassalborough,  which  he  briefly  but  apprecia- 
tively describes  in  his  entertaining  journal :  —  "  During  our 
stay  at  this  place  we  saw  and  partook  of  the  ceremony  of 
husking  corn,  a  kind  of  '  harvest  home '  in  England,  with 
the  additional  amusement  of  kissing  the  girls  whenever 
they  met  with  a  red  corn-cob,  and  to  which  is  added 
dancing,  singing,  and  moderate  drinking." J 

The  admiral  was  fond  of  diversion  and  had  a  penchant 
for  eccentric  merrymaking.  After  he  had  retired  from 
active  service,  and  when  he  was  enjoying  his  leisure  as  a 
country  gentleman,  he  is  said  to  have  entertained  the 
poor  of  the  vicinity  with  a  feast  at  which  the  chief  dish 
was  a  sea-pie  of  Gargantuan  proportions.  Mr.  Thomas, 
however,  was  a  practical  farmer.  He  was  not  averse  to 
seasonable  amusement,  but  he  detested  waste,  and  he  was 
always  suspicious  of  any  combination  of  work  and  play. 
Here  are  some  of  the  precepts  in  his  Farmer's  Calendar :  — 

Harvest  your  Indian  corn,  unless  you  intend  it  for  the 
squirrels.  If  you  make  a  husking,  keep  an  old  man  between 
every  two  boys,  else  your  husking  will  turn  out  a  losing.  (Oc- 
tober, 1805.) 

1  Journal  of  Rear-Admiral  Bartholomew  James,  Navy  Records  Society, 
1896,  p.  193. 


HUSKINGS   AND   OTHER  AMUSEMENTS  169 

Come,  Dolly,  my  dear,  spur  up ;  prepare  something  good 
and  cheering,  for  we  will  have  a  husking  to-night.  (November, 
1806.) 

In  a  husking  there  is  some  fun  and  frolick,  but  on  the  whole, 
it  hardly  pays  the  way ;  for  they  will  not  husk  clean,  since  many 
go  more  for  the  sport  than  to  do  any  real  good.  (October, 
1808.) 

Husking  is  now  a  business  for  us  all.  If  you  make  what  some 
call  a  Bee,  it  will  be  necessary  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  boys,  or  you 
may  have  to  husk  over  again  the  whole  heap.  (October,  1816.) 

Some  years  later,  in  1828,  when  the  brief  agricultural 
maxims  of  the  Farmer's  Calendar  had  expanded  into  char- 
acter sketches  and  little  didactic  essays,  we  find  a  more 
elaborate  confession  of  faith  on  the  subject  of  the  New 
England  harvest-home :  — 

"  Come,  wife,  let  us  make  a  husking,"  said  Uncle  Pettyworth. 
"  No,  no,"  replied  the  prudent  woman,  "  you  and  the  boys  will 
be  able  to  husk  out  our  little  heap  without  the  trouble,  the  waste 
and  expense  of  a  husking  frolick.  The  girls  and  I  will  lend  a 
hand,  and  all  together  will  make  it  but  a  short  job."  Now,  had 
the  foolish  man  took  the  advice  of  his  provident  wife,  how  much 
better  would  it  have  turned  out  for  him?  But  the  boys  sat  in, 
and  the  girls  sat  in,  and  his  own  inclinations  sat  in,  and  all  be- 
setting him  at  once  he  was  persuaded  into  the  unnecessary 
measure,  and  a  husking  was  determined  upon.  Then  one  of  the 
boys  was  soon  mounted  upon  the  colt  with  a  jug  on  each  side, 
pacing  off  to  'Squire  Hookem's  store  for  four  gallons  of  whiskey. 
The  others  were  sent  to  give  the  invitations.  The  mother  being 
obliged  to  yield,  with  her  daughters  went  about  preparing  the 
supper.  Great  was  the  gathering  at  night  round  the  little  corn 
stack.  Capt.  Husky,  old  Busky,  Tom  Bluenose  and  about 
twenty  good-for-nothing  boys  began  the  operations.  Red  ears 
and  smutty,  new  rum  and  slack-jaw  was  the  business  of  the 
evening.  (October,  1828.) 


1 70  THE   OLD   FARMERS   ALMANACK 

"  Red  ears  and  smutty"  are  fully  treated  in  Joel  Barlow's 
Hasty  Pudding,  which  was  written  in  the  winter  of  1792-93 
and  contains  the  classic  passage  on  husking  parties :  — 

The  days  grow  short ;  but  though  the  falling  sun 
To  the  glad  swain  proclaims  his  day's  work  done, 
Night's  pleasing  shades  his  various  tasks  prolong, 
And  yield  new  subjects  to  my  various  song. 
For  now,  the  corn-house  fill'd,  the  harvest  home, 
The  invited  neighbors  to  the  husking  come  ; 
A  frolic  scene,  where  work,  and  mirth,  and  play, 
Unite  their  charms,  to  chase  the  hours  away. 

Where  the  huge  heap  lies  centred  in  the  hall, 
The  lamp  suspended  from  the  cheerful  wall, 
Brown  corn-fed  nymphs,  and  strong  hard-handed  beaux, 
Alternate  ranged,  extend  in  circling  rows, 
Assume  their  seats,  the  solid  mass  attack  ; 
The  dry  husks  rustle,  and  the  corn-cobs  crack ; 
The  song,  the  laugh,  alternate  notes  resound, 
And  the  sweet  cider  trips  in  silence  round. 

The  laws  of  husking  every  wight  can  tell  — 
And  sure  no  laws  he  ever  keeps  so  well  : 
For  each  red  ear  a  general  kiss  he  gains, 
With  each  smut  ear  he  smuts  the  luckless  swains ; 
But  when  to  some  sweet  maid  a  prize  is  cast, 
Red  as  her  lips,  and  taper  as  her  waist, 
She  walks  the  round,  and  culls  one  favored  beau, 
Who  leaps,  the  luscious  tribute  to  bestow. 
Various  the  sport,  as  are  the  wits  and  brains 
Of  well-pleased  lasses  and  contending  swains; 
Till  the  vast  mound  of  corn  is  swept  away, 
And  he  that  gets  the  last  ear  wins  the  day. 

This  is  one  of  the  few  passages  of  eighteenth-century 
American  verse  still  remembered.  Barlow's  ambitious 
and  unreadable  epic,  the  Columbiad,  is  as  dead  as  Black- 
more's  Prince  Arthur  or  Southey's  Madoc ;  but  the  mock- 
heroic  Hasty  Pudding,  which  he  must  have  regarded  as 
merely  an  elegant  trifle,  "  the  perfume  and  suppliance  of 
a  minute,"  is  often  quoted  and  even  finds  a  reader  now  and 


HUSKINGS   AND    OTHER   AMUSEMENTS  I/I 

then.  The  circumstances  of  the  poem  may  account  for  its 
superiority  to  the  author's  more  labored  performances. 
Barlow  had  gone  to  Europe  in  1788  as  agent  of  the  Scioto 
Company,  which  dealt  speculatively  in  Western  lands. 
After  the  failure  of  this  enterprise  he  had  remained  in 
Europe,  residing  alternately  in  England  and  on  the  Conti- 
nent, and  occupying  himself  with  politics  and  literature. 
In  the  winter  of  1792-93  he  was  at  Chambery,  immersed 
in  French  political  business  —  he  expected  to  be  returned 
as  deputy  to  the  National  Convention  from  the  Depart- 
ment of  Savoy.  His  wife  was  in  London,  and  they  were 
both  rather  homesick,  though  Barlow's  head  was  too  full  of 
projects  to  allow  him  much  leisure  for  reminiscence.  One 
night  he  was  surprised  to  find  on  the  supper  table  at  the 
inn  a  dish  which  he  instantly  recognized  as  the  hasty 
pudding  of  his  native  Connecticut:1  — 

Dear  Hasty  Pudding,  what  unpromised  joy 
Expands  my  heart  to  meet  thee  in  Savoy  ! 
Doom'd  o'er  the  world  through  devious  paths  to  roam, 
Each  clime  my  country,  and  each  house  my  home, 
My  soul  is  soothed,  my  cares  have  found  an  end, 
I  greet  my  long  lost,  unforgotten  friend. 

The  origin  of  the  pleasant  custom  attaching  to  the  red 
ear  is  lost  in  obscurity.  A  curious  passage  from  Colonel 
James  Smith's  narrative  is  here  offered  for  what  it  may  be 
worth.  There  is  no  doubt  of  Smith's  good  faith.  He  was 
a  captive  among  the  Caughnawaga  Indians  from  1755  to 
1759,  was  adopted  into  their  nation,  and  spoke  three 
Indian  languages,  so  that  he  had  good  opportunities  to 
inform  himself.  He  says :  —  "  Before  I  was  taken  by  the 
Indians,  I  had  often  heard  that  in  the  ceremony  of  marriage, 
the  man  gave  the  woman  a  deer's  leg,  and  she  gave  him  a 

1  See  C.  B.  Todd,  Life  and  Letters  of  Joel  Barlow,  N.  Y.,  1886,  pp. 
97-99- 


172  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

red  ear  of  corn,  signifying  that  she  was  to  keep  him  in 
bread,  and  he  was  to  keep  her  in  meat.  I  inquired  of 
them  concerning  the  truth  of  this,  and  they  said  they 
knew  nothing  of  it,  further  than  that  they  had  heard  it 
was  the  ancient  custom  among  some  nations." 1 

Barlow's  husking  scene  limits  the  drinks  to  sweet  cider; 
but  this  is  certainly  poetic  license.  We  may  compare  a 
humorous  passage  in  the  Diary  of  Dr.  Nathaniel  Ames  of 
Dedham,  October  14,  1767:  2  — 

Made  an  husking  Entertainm't.  Possibly  this  leafe  may  last 
a  Century  &  fall  into  the  hands  of  some  inquisitive  Person  for 
whose  Entertainm't  I  will  inform  him  that  now  there  is  a  Custom 
amongst  us  of  making  an  Entertainment  at  husking  of  Indian 
Corn  whereto  all  the  neighboring  Swains  are  invited  and  after  the 
Corn  is  finished  they  like  the  Hottentots  give  three  Cheers  or 
huzza's»  but  cannot  carry  in  the  husks  without  a  Rhum  bottle 
they  feign  great  Exertion  but  da  nothing  till  Rhum  enlivens  them, 
when  all  is  done  in  a  trice,  then  after  a  hearty  Meal  about  10  at 
Night  they  go  to  their  pastimes. 

Mr.  Thomas's  satire  on  the  husking  was  written  when 
the  agitation  for  total  abstinence  was  at  its  height.  It  was 
not  merely  the  waste  that  troubled  him,  but  the  new  rum 
and  the  four  gallons  of  whiskey;  for,  as  we  shall  see  on 
other  occasions,  the  Old  Farmer  was  an  earnest  and  con- 
sistent advocate  of  moderation  in  all  things.  The  serious- 
minded  in  New  England  had  long  been  dismayed  at  the 
hilarity  that  sometimes  attended  the  harvest  festival.  In 
1713  Cotton  Mather  remarks  that  "  the  Riots  that  have  too 
often  accustomed  our  Huskings,  have  carried  in  them, 
fearful  Ingratitude  and  Provocation  unto  the  Glorious 

1  Account  of  the  Remarkable  Occurrences  in  the  Life  and  Travels  of  Col. 
James  Smith,  in  Loudon's  Selection  of  Indian  Narratives,  Carlisle,  1808,  re- 
print of  1888,  I,  240. 

2  The  Ames  Diary,  Dedham  Historical  Register,  II,  98,  quoted  by  C.  F. 
Adams,  Three  Episodes  in  Massachusetts  History,  II,  791. 


HUSKINGS   AND   OTHER  AMUSEMENTS  173 

God."  He  has  heard  that  these  riots  "  are  abated,"  and 
exclaims  "  May  the  Joy  of  Harvest  no  longer  be  prostituted 
unto  vicious  purposes.  Husbandmen  and  Householders: 
Let  the  Night  of  your  Pleasure  be  turned  into  Fear ;  a 
Jealous  Fear,  Least  your  Children  take  their  .Leave  of 
God,  and  of  Piety."  1 

This  outburst  of  Mather's  is  associated  with  a  similar 
denunciation  of  "  Christmas  revels"  and  "  Shroves-Tuesday 
vanities."  Our  forefathers  are  known  to  have  been  much 
averse  to  the  celebration  of  Christmas.  They  regarded 
any  kind  of  observance  of  that  festival  as  papistical  and 
idolatrous.  So  strong,  indeed,  was  this  feeling  that  many 
persons  now  living  can  remember  when  "  the  season 
wherein  our  Saviour's  birth  is  celebrated  "  passed,  in  the 
country,  without  any  notice  at  all,  whereas  Thanksgiving 
was  honored  with  both  religious  and  social  rites. 

On  Christmas  day,  1621,  Governor  Bradford  had  an 
amusing  encounter  with  some  of  his  raw  recruits,  who  had 
arrived  on  the  ship  Fortune  the  month  before.  There 
were  thirty-five  of  these  newcomers,  and,  to  use  the 
Governor's  own  words,  "  most  of  them  were  lusty  yonge 
men,  and  many  of  them  wild  enough.  .  .  The  plantation 
was  glad  of  this  addition  of  strength,  but  could  have 
wished  that  many  of  them  had  been  of  better  condition, 
and  all  of  them  beter  furnished  with  provisions  ;  but  yV' 
he  adds  philosophically,  "  could  not  now  be  helpte." 2 
Then  comes  the  little  clash  of  conscience :  — 

One  ye  day  called  Chrismas-day,  ye  Govr  caled  them  out  to 
worke,  (as  was  used,)  but  ye  most  of  this  new-company  excused 
themselves  and  said  it  went  against  their  consciances  to  work  on 
y1  day.  So  ye  Govr  tould  them  that  if  they  made  it  mater  of 
conscience,  he  would  spare  them  till  they  were  better  informed. 

1  Advice  from  the  Watch  Tower,  Boston,  1713,  p.  ^5. 

2  History  of  Plimouth  Plantation,  ed.  1898,  pp.  128-9, 


i/4      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

So  he  led-away  ye  rest  and  left  them  ;  but  when  they  came  home 
at  noone  from  their  worke,  he  found  them  in  ye  streete  at  play, 
openly ;  some  pitching  ye  barr,  &  some  at  stoole-ball,  and  shuch 
like  sports.  So  he  went  to  them,  and  tooke  away  their  imple- 
ments, and  tould  them  that  was  against  his  conscience,  that  they 
should  play  &  others  worke.  If  they  made  ye  keeping  of  it  mater 
of  devotion,  let  them  kepe  their  houses,  but  ther  should  be  no 
gameing  or  revelling  in  ye  streets.  Since  which  time  nothing 
hath  been  atempted  that  way,  at  least  openly.1 

Mr.  George  William  Curtis,  who  has  written  of  the  Pil- 
grim and  Puritan  Christmas  with  more  toleration  for  the 
scruples  of  the  Fathers  than  some  of  their  descendants 
show  nowadays,  takes  this  bit  of  humor  with  undue  seri- 
ousness. "  It  was  against  the  Governor's  conscience,"  he 
says,  "  that  the  '  lusty  yonge  men  '  should  follow  their  con- 
sciences, and  the  last  sentence  of  the  historian  is  as  sig- 
nificant as  Sebastiani's  famous  words,  the  modern  echo 
of  the  Solitudinem  faciunt  of  Tacitus  — '  Order  reigns 
in  Warsaw.'  "  2  This  is  pretty  grim,  and  hardly  fair  to  the 
excellent  Bradford,  who  might  assuredly  be  suffered  to 
have  his  little  joke, —  all  the  more  when  logic  was  so 
clearly  on  his  side.  The  young  men  may  have  had  con- 
scientious scruples  against  working,  but  they  were  under 
no  religious  obligation  to  play  stool-ball ! 

In  1659  the  keeping  of  "  any  such  day  as  Christmas  or 
the  like,  either  by  forbearing  of  labour,  feasting,  or  any 
other  way  "  was  forbidden  by  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts, under  a  penalty  of  five  shillings  for  each  offense. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  century,  when  the  population  of 
the  towns  had  become  less  homogeneous,  and  the  number 
of  Church  of  England  men  had  greatly  increased,  the  law 
grew  difficult  to  enforce,  and  in  1681  it  was  repealed.3 

1  History  of  Plimouth  Plantation,  pp.  134-5. 

2  Harper's  Magazine,  for  December,  1883. 

8  Mass.  Colony  Records,  IV,  i,  366 ;  V,  322. 


HUSKINGS   AND   OTHER  AMUSEMENTS  175 

From  this  time  Christmas  began  to  reassert  itself.  The 
discomfort  of  Samuel  Sewall  as  he  contemplated  this  cor- 
ruption of  manners  is  pictured  in  several  passages  in  his 
Diary,  which  have  been  well  summed  up  by  Mr.  Curtis:  — 

Four  years  later  Judge  Sewall  records,  with  satisfaction,  that 
carts  come  to  town  on  Christmas-day,  and  shops  are  open  as 
usual.  "  Some,  somehow,  observe  the  day,  but  are  vexed,  I  be- 
lieve, that  the  Body  of  the  People  profane  it ;  and,  blessed  be 
God!  no  Authority  yet  to  compell  them  to  keep  it."  The  next 
year  the  shops  and  the  carts  give  him  great  pleasure  again, 
although  Governor  Andros  does  go  to  the  Episcopal  service  with 
a  redcoat  on  his  right  and  a  captain  on  his  left.  Eleven  years 
later,  in  1697,  on  the  same  day:  "Joseph  tells  me  that  though 
most  of  the  Boys  went  to  the  Church,  yet  he  went  not."  In  1705 
and  1 706,  to  the  judge's  continued  comfort,  the  carts  still  came 
and  the  shops  were  open.  But  in  1714  Christmas  fell  on  Satur- 
day, and  because  of  its  observance  at  the  church  the  unbending 
judge  goes  to  keep  the  Sabbath  and  sit  down  at  the  Lord's  table 
with  Mr.  John  Webb,  that  he  may  "  put  respect  upon  that  af- 
fronted, despised  Lord's  day.  For  the  Church  of  England  had 
the  Lord's  supper  yesterday,  the  last  day  of  the  week,  but  will 
not  have  it  to-day,  the  day  that  the  Lord  has  made." 

The  passage  in  Cotton  Mather  to  which  reference  has 
just  been  made  gives  a  succinct  statement  of  the  grounds 
on  which  the  Puritans  objected  to  Christmas  celebration 
in  any  form  :  — 

Christmas- Revels  begin  to  be  taken  up,  among  some  vainer 
Young  People  here  and  there  in  some  of  our  Towns. 

R\emark\.  It  were  to  be  desired,  That  Christians  abounding 
in  Wisdom  and  Prudence,  would  Weigh  in  Equal  Ballances,  what 
is  to  be  said,  against  their  keeping  any  Stated  Holidays,  which 
our  Glorious  Lord  himself  has  not  instituted  ;  and  what  more  is 
to  be  said,  about  assigning  a  Wrong-Day,  to  Commemorate  a 
great  Work  of  God,  as  thereon  accomplished  ;  and  most  of  all, 


176      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

how  offensive  it  cannot  but  be  unto  the  Holy  Son  of  God,  for 
Men  to  pretend  his  Honour  in  Committing  Impieties,  which  the 
Conscience  of  every  Man  cannot  but  assure  him,  that  they  are 
Abominable  Things,  and  hateful  to  the  God,  who  has  not  pleasure 
in  Wickedness.1 

Such  arguments  did  not  go  unchallenged.  Some  ten 
years  later  there  was  a  little  tempest  at  Marblehead.  Mr. 
John  Barnard,  the  local  minister,  and  one  of  the  ablest  of 
his  generation,  in  a  lecture  held  on  Christmas  day,  1729, 
set  forth  the  Puritan  view  with  a  good  deal  of  vigor.  The 
Church  of  England  minister,  Mr.  George  Pigot,  was  much 
disturbed  at  this  discourse,  and  at  its  results.  Some  of 
Mr.  Barnard's  admirers,  writes  Mr.  Pigot,  "  did  frequently 
and  loudly  upbraid  the  Members  of  my  Church,  even  in 
the  very  Streets,  with  such  Tauntings  as  these :  —  What  is 

become  of  your  Christmas-Day  now  ;  for  Mr.  B d  has 

proved  it  to  be  Nothing  else  but  an  Heathenish  Rioting  ?  — 
Will  you  never  have  done  with  your  Popish  Ceremonies,  that 
you  must  have  Four  or  Five  Days  running,  to  observe,  what 
Mr.  B d  has  made  out  to  be  no  such  Thing  as  You  pre- 
tendf  —  These  and  other  unseemly  Scoffings  made  the 
Generality  of  my  Hearers  uneasy,  and  brought  divers  and 
hourly  Complaints  to  my  Ears."  All  this  was  of  course 
extremely  unpleasant,  and  called  for  reprisals. 

At  length,  in  January,  1730,  Mr.  Pigot  replied  in  a  ser- 
mon which  was  afterwards  published,  "  at  the  desire  of  the 
church-wardens  and  vestry,"  under  the  formidable  title 
"  A  Vindication  of  the  Practice  of  the  Antient  Christian, 
as  well  as  the  Church  of  England,  and  other  Reformed 
Churches,  in  the  Observation  of  Christmas-day;  in  answer 
to  the  Uncharitable  Reflections  of  Thomas  de  Laune,  Mr. 
Whiston,  and  Mr.  John  Barnard  of  Marblehead."  There 
is  no  occasion  to  enter  into  a  discussion  as  to  the  merits 

1  Advice  from  the  Watch  Tower,  pp.  34-35. 


HUSKINGS   AND   OTHER   AMUSEMENTS  177 

of  this  controversy.  It  has  lost  all  interest  except  as  an 
index  to  the  temper  of  the  times,  which  permitted  Mr. 
Pigot  to  speak  of  Mr.  Barnard's  parishioners  as  "  his 
credulous  fishermen,"  and  to  include  their  pastor  with 
others  under  the  designation  of  "  some  sour  spirits."  It  is 
almost  a  pity  that  Barnard  did  not  allude  to  this  passage 
at  arms  in  his  vastly  entertaining  Autobiography.  He  does, 
however,  give  us  his  opinion  of  his  antagonist,  in  plain 
terms,  as  one  who  "  had  pretty  good  school  learning,  hav- 
ing been  usher  in  his  father's  grammar  school,  but  never 
educated  at  the  Universities,  nor  knew  anything  of  arts 
and  sciences  beyond  the  school ;  and  was  a  worthless  man, 
with  whom  we  had  customary  correspondence,  but  no 
intimacy."  J  We  must  at  all  events  exonerate  Mr.  Barnard 
from  any  charge  of  bigoted  opposition  to  the  Church  of 
England.  He  speaks  with  great  respect  of  Mr.  Pigot's 
successor,  Mr.  Malcolm,  and  he  was  one  of  the  pall-bearers 
at  the  funeral  of  his  successor,  Mr.  Bours.  Indeed,  he  was 
consulted  by  the  Episcopalians  as  to  the  best  way  to  fill 
Mr.  Bours's  place,  and  his  advice  was  followed.2  And  so 
we  may  leave  this  queer  little  chapter  of  ecclesiastical 
history. 

Mather's  words  about  Shrovetide  are  too  curious  to  omit, 
though  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  ceremonies  that  he 
mentions  ever  became  at  all  prevalent  in  this  part  of  the 
world :  — 

It  is  to  be  hoped,  The  Shroves- Tuesday  Vanities,  of  making 
Cakes  to  the  Queen  of  Heaven,  and  Sacrificing  of  Cocks  to  the 
Pagan  Idol  Tuisco  ;  and  other  Superstitions  Condemned  in  the 
Reformed  Churches  ;  will  find  very  few  Abetters,  in  a  Countrey 
declaring  for  our  Degree  of  Reformation. 

Should   such  things  become  usual  among  us,  the  great  God 

1  Barnard's  Autobiography,  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  3d  Series,  V,  234. 

2  The  same,  p.  235. 


1/8         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

would  soon  say  with  Indignation,  How  art  thou  turned  Unto  the 
Degenerate  Plant  of  a  Strange  Vine  unto  me  ! x 

The  last  day  before  Lent  is  called  Shrove  Tuesday  be- 
cause it  was  formerly  the  custom  to  go  to  confession  —  to 
shrive  oneself — on  that  day.  After  shrift,  all  sorts  of 
merriment  began.  Thus  Shrovetide  in  England  corre- 
sponded to  the  Italian  carnival  season.  The  Reformation 
of  course  put  an  end  to  the  confessional,  but  the  habit  of 
festivity  persisted.  Mather  is  particularly  vexed  by  the 
eating  of  cakes  and  the  sacrifice  of  cocks.  The  first  of 
these  ceremonies  he  regards  as  a  relic  of  Mariolatry;  the 
second  is,  in  his  eyes,  rank  paganism.  Cakes  or  dough- 
nuts were  a  regular  English  dish  on  Shrove  Tuesday, 
which  was  therefore  known  also  as  Pancake  Tuesday.  The 
sacrifice  to  which  Mather  refers  is  the  old  sport  of  "  throw- 
ing at  the  cock."  The  creature  was  tied  to  a  stake  and 
small  cudgels  were  hurled  at  him  by  the  contestants  from 
a  distance  of  about  twenty-five  yards.  The  winner  got  the 
bird.2  The  brutality  of  the  custom  should  have  been 
enough  to  condemn  it,  but  Mather  thinks  less  of  that  than 
of  its  impiety.  Singularly  enough  he  imagines  that  it  is  a 
sacrifice  to  "  the  idol  Tuisco."  This  is  a  strange  piece  of 
learned  fancy.  Tuisco,  or  Tuisto,  is  known  to  us  from  a 
famous  passage  in  the  Germania  of  Tacitus,  where  we  are 
told  that  the  Germans  sing  of  him  as  a  god  born  from  the 
earth,  and  of  Mannus,  that  is  "  man,"  as  his  son.  There  is 
no  evidence  that  they  ever  made  images  of  him.  Indeed, 
Tacitus  says  expressly  that  they  think  it  wrong  to  repre- 
sent any  of  the  deities  under  human  form.  Of  course  there 
is  no  connection  whatever  between  the  unfortunate  cocks 
that  were  battered  on  Shrove  Tuesday  and  the  ancient 
Germanic  divinity.  But  Mather  supposed,  it  would  seem, 

1  Advice  from  the  Watch  Tower,  p.  35. 

2  Brand,  Popular  Antiquities,  ed.  Hazlitt,  I,  41  ff. 


HUSKINGS   AND    OTHER   AMUSEMENTS  179 

that  Tuisco  was  identical  with  Tiw,  the  deity  after  whom 
Tuesday  (the  Anglo-Saxon  Tiwes-d&g)  was  named.  This 
specious  though  mistaken  etymology,  and  the  writer's 
horror  at  idolatrous  sacrifices  to  a  pagan  Germanic  god, 
show  at  least  the  scope  of  curious  learning  in  old  New 
England  and  the  complexity  of  the  problem  that  con- 
fronts the  student  who  wishes  to  comprehend  the  Puritan 
spirit  in  all  its  manifestations. 

The  same  regard  for  efficiency  in  labor  which  Mr. 
Thomas  evinces  in  his  distrust  of  huskings  —  the  persua- 
sion that  work  and  play  cannot  be  profitably  combined, 
though  amusement  is  well  enough  in  its  place  —  comes 
out  in  a  little  sermon  on  the  text  "  Many  hands  make 
light  work  "  in  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  June,  1821  :  - 

"Many  hands  make  light  work." 

Now,  if  you  have  a  heavy  job  to  do,  call  all  hands  and  despatch 
it ;  but  stop  !  too  many  cooks  always  spoil  the  broth.  There  are 
some  who  cannot  bear  to  work  alone.  If  they  have  a  yard  of 
cabbages  to  hoe,  they  must  call  in  a  neighbour  to  change  work. 
Now  this  is  very  pleasant,  but  it  tends  to  lounging  and  idleness, 
and  neglect  of  business ;  for  we  cannot  always  have  our  neighbours 
at  work  with  us.  We  shall  reluct  at  working  alone,  and  if  we 
can  get  no  one  to  come  to  us,  we  shall  be  away,  leaving  our  corn, 
potatoes,  peas  and  beans  to  take  care  of  themselves.  —  "  Bugs, 
bugs,  bugs  !  O,  the  bugs  will  eat  up  all  the  cucumbers  !  "  No, 
they  will  not,  cousin  Betty,  if  we  attend  to  them.  We  must  be  up 
in  the  morning,  aye  in  the  morning,  I  say;  and  not  lie  in  bed 
until  nigh  twelve,  like  Capt.  Dashup's  girls,  who  are  thrumming 
and  drumming  and  humming  all  night  long  with  their  penny-forts 
and  jews-harps.  —  I  say  we  must  be  up -before  the  sun  kisses  the 
pine  tops,  and  see  to  these  bugs  and  pinch  their  necks  for  them. 

Several  details  are  worthy  of  notice  in  this  lively  moral 
and  economic  lesson,  apart  from  the  instruction  itself. 
The  farmer's  custom  of  "  changing  works  "  is  humorously 


i8o      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

hit  off;  or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  the  abuses  to  which 
it  may  lead  are  pleasantly  satirized.  As  for  the  custom 
itself,  when  properly  regulated,  it  was  a  necessity;  some 
kind  of  cooperation  could  not  well  be  dispensed  with  in  the 
days  when  small  proprietors  were  many  and  professional 
hired  laborers  were  scarce.  Barn  raisings,  spinning  bees, 
and  huskings  all  come  under  the  same  category  as  "  chang- 
ing works,"  and  depend  upon  the  same  principle  of  barter, 
—  for  labor  was,  in  simple  communities,  often  a  more 
practicable  medium  of  exchange  than  money,  because 
there  was  more  of  it. 

"  So  vast  is  the  Territory  of  North-America"  wrote  Ben- 
jamin Franklin  in  1751,  "that  it  will  require  many  Ages 
to  settle  it  fully;  and  till  it  is  fully  settled,  Labour  will 
never  be  cheap  here,  where  no  Man  continues  long  a 
Labourer  for  others,  but  gets  a  Plantation  of  his  own,  no 
Man  continues  long  a  Journeyman  to  a  Trade,  but  goes 
among  those  new  Settlers,  and  sets  up  for  himself,  &c. 
Hence  Labour  is  no  cheaper  now,  in  Pennsylvania,  than  it 
was  30  Years  ago,  tho'  so  many  Thousand  labouring 
People  have  been  imported."  x  Yet  wages  were  not  high 
in  those  days  according  to  the  present  standard  of  value. 
In  1800,  Isaac  Waldron  of  Newbury,  Vermont,  "  hired  out 
to  Col.  Frye  Bayley  for  one  year  for  eighty  dollars."  Eight 
dollars  a  month,  with  board,  was  the  regular  pay  of  a  farm 
laborer,  or  "  hired  man,"  as  late  as  the  third  decade  of  the 
last  century.  But  there  were  few  temptations  to  spend 
money,  and  ready  cash  was  scarce,  so  that,  even  with 
these  wages,  the  farm  hand  might  easily  become  a  pro- 
prietor if  he  was  economical.2 

Mr.  Thomas  was  of  course  not  an  opponent  of  the  harm- 

1  Observations  concerning  the  Increase  of  Mankind,  Peopling  of  Coun- 
tries,  &c.,  p.  4,  appended  to  W.  Clarke's   Observations  on   the  Late   and 
Present  Conduct  of  the  French,  Boston,  1755. 

2  F.  P.  Wells,  History  of  Newbury,  Vermont,  St.  Johnsbury,  1902,  p.  153. 


HUSKINGS   AND   OTHER  AMUSEMENTS  l8l 

less,  necessary  custom  of  "  changing  works."  It  was  only 
when  serious  application  to  the  task  in  hand  degenerated 
into  frolic  that  our  agricultural  mentor  felt  called  upon  to 
protest  and  admonish. 

Another  point  in  the  extract  just  given  from  the 
Almanac  is  the  plague  of  destructive  insects  —  bugs  as 
they  were,  and  still  are,  indiscriminately  called  in  the 
country.  The  plan  of  breeding  parasites  to  destroy  these 
pestilent  creatures  had  not  yet  been  thought  of,  nor  had 
the  simpler  method  of  applying  Paris  green  made  every 
potato  patch  a  terror  to  people  with  weak  nerves.  In 
another  place,  however,  will  be  found  a  suggestion  that  the 
bugs  may  be  turned  to  good  account  as  a  substitute  for 
Spanish  flies  in  medicine.1 

The  husking  inevitably  suggests  the  spinning  bee,  de- 
scriptions of  which  are  plenty  as  blackberries.  Here  is  one 
which  coincides  almost  exactly  in  date  with  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  Farmer's  Almanac.  It  relates  to  a  spinning 
party  which  took  place  at  Falmouth  (now  Portland), 
Maine,  on  May  Day,  1788,  and  comes  from  the  local  news- 
paper. The  tone  and  temper  of  the  item  suggest  that  it 
was  written  by  the  reverend  gentleman  at  whose  house  the 
assembly  was  held. 

On  the  ist  instant,  assembled  at  the  house  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Deane,  of  this  town,  more  than  one  hundred  of  the  fair  sex, 
married  and  single  ladies,  most  of  whom  were  skilled  in  the 
important  art  of  spinning.  An  emulous  industry  was  never  more 
apparent  than  in  this  beautiful  assembly.  The  majority  of  fair 
hands  gave  motion  to  not  less  than  sixty  wheels.  Many  were 
occupied  in  preparing  the  materials,  besides  those  who  attended 
to  the  entertainment  of  the  rest  —  provision  for  which  was  mostly 
presented  by  the  guests  themselves,  or  sent  in  by  other  generous 
promoters  of  the  exhibition,  as  were  also  the  materials  for  the 

1  See  p.  1 86,  below. 


1 82       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

work.  Near  the  close  of  the  day,  Mrs.  Deane  was  presented  by 
the  company  with  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  seven  knotted 
skeins  of  excellent  cotton  and  linen  yarn,  the  work  of  the  day, 
excepting  about  a  dozen  skeins  which  some  of  the  company 
brought  in  ready  spun.  Some  had  spun  six,  and  many  not  less 
than  five  skeins  apiece.  She  takes  this  opportunity  of  returning 
thanks  to  each,  which  the  hurry  of  the  day  rendered  impracticable 
at  the  time.  To  conclude,  and  crown  the  day,  a  numerous  band 
of  the  best  singers  attended  in  the  evening,  and  performed  an 
agreeable  variety  of  excellent  pieces  in  psalmody. 

The  price  of  a  virtuous  woman  is  far  above  rubies.  .  .  .  She 
layeth  her  hands  to  the  spindle,  and  her  hands  hold  the  distaff.1 

Mr.  Thomas  usually  takes  spinning  for  granted,  and 
does  not  feel  that  his  readers  need  to  be  instructed  about 
so  obvious  a  duty,  but  now  and  then  there  is  a  bit  of 
advice  on  the  subject,  as  in  February,  1811  :  —  "  You  will 
see  that  your  daughters  do  not  want  flax,  &c.  to  keep 
them  industrious.  I  fear  the  old  fashion  of  spinning  and 
weaving  are  going  out  of  date.  Remember  to  bring  up 
your  children  in  the  way  they  should  go,  and  then  their 
good  habits  will  accompany  them  through  life."  Most  of 
his  advice  to  women  concerns  the  dairy,  and  shows  an 
anxious  care  for  neatness  which  seems  prophetic  of  modern 
qualms. 

When  the  Old  Farmer  began  his  career  as  mentor 
of  rural  New  England,  it  was  an  occasional  practice  for 
women  to  bear  a  hand  in  the  outdoor  work  of  the  farm, 
especially  in  the  haying  season.  This  practice  seemed 
objectionable  to  Mr.  Thomas.  He  regarded  it  as  one  of 
those  crudities  of  which  a  civilized  community  should 
be  ashamed,  and  he  inveighed  against  it  with  unusual 
warmth :  — 

1  Cumberland  Gazette,  May  8,  1788,  as  quoted  by  William  Willis,  Journals 
of  Smith  and  Deane,  Portland,  1849,  p.  362,  note. 


HUSKINGS   AND   OTHER   AMUSEMENTS  183 

All  things  must  give  way  to  necessity ;  yet  what  need  is  there 
for  a  woman  to  leave  her  domestic  concerns,  go  into  the  field, 
and  like  an  Amazon  wield  the  pitchfork  and  the  rake  ?  'T  is 
abominable  !  Is  this  the  duty  of  a  wife  ?  Is  such  the  tenderness 
of  a  husband?  Remember  she  is  the  mistress  of  thy  house  ;  treat 
her  therefore  with  respect,  that  thy  children  may,  also.  Consider 
the  tenderness  of  her  sex,  and  the  delicacy  of  her  frame.  (August, 
1809.) 


SMALL   ECONOMIES 

FEW  miscellaneous  scraps  are  more  amusing  to  run 
over  in  an  idle  hour  than  those  receipts  for  utilizing 
the  useless  or  making  something  out  of  nothing  in 
which  thrifty  people  have  always  delighted.  The  older 
numbers  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack  are  not  deficient  in 
lore  of  this  sort,  derived  from  various  sources  —  the 
editor's  experience,  the  gossiping  pen  of  the  "  constant 
reader,"  or  even  the  newspapers.  A  few  of  the  choicest 
among  them  are  here  brought  together,  without  any  at- 
tempt at  classification,  and  with  little  or  no  comment; 
since  for  the  most  part  they  speak  for  themselves.  A 
number  of  them  are  manifestly  of  more  or  less  value,  but 
the  present  writer  cannot  attach  his  probatum  est  to  any, 
and  therefore  prefers  to  make  no  attempt  at  discriminating. 
Persons  who  are  fond  of  potatoes  and  afraid  of  coffee, 
may  get  comfort  from  the  following  extract  from  the 
Almanac  for  1815.  It  is  a  little  essay  on  — 

POTATOE    COFFEE.  —  From  a  Philadelphia  Paper. 

Frugality  in  domestic  expenses,  is  a  virtue,  which  ought  to  be 
practised  by  the  manager  of  every  family  ;  but  more  particularly, 
at  a  time  when  commerce  stagnates  in  our  ports,  the  mechanick  is 
thrown  out  of  employment,  and  the  necessaries  of  life  at  so  high 
a  price  as  to  be  obtained  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  and 
when  the  poor  are  precluded  altogether  from  many  of  them. 
Every  discovery  therefore,  that  has  a  tendency  to  ameliorate  the 
condition  of  the  poor  and  the  labourer,  and  add  to  their  comfort, 
is  of  great  value,  and  ought  to  obtain  public  sanction. 


SMALL   ECONOMIES  185 

The  article  coffee,  a  few  years  back,  was  looked  upon  as  un- 
necessary, but  is  now  considered,  from  the  great  use  made  of  it, 
as  one  of  the  necessaries  of  life.  The  price  is  now  nearly  double 
to  what  it  was  in  the  year  1811,  and  continues  to  rise  ;  a  substi- 
tute for  coffee  would,  therefore,  be  a  great  object  to  society  in 
general  —  many  articles  have  been  tried,  but,  not  answering  the 
purpose,  have  been  relinquished. 

The  potatoe  is  found  to  resemble  coffee  in  taste,  smell  and 
colour,  more  than  any  substitute  that  has  been  tried  ;  few  persons 
can  distinguish  one  from  the  other;  besides  which,  it  possesses 
other  properties  and  circumstances  which  ought  to  recommend 
it  to  general  use.  It  is  one  of  our  cheapest  and  most  plentiful 
vegetables  ;  besides  its  cheapness,  it  may  be  obtained  in  all  places 
and  in  any  quantity,  nor  are  we  dependent  on  foreign  commerce 
for  it — This  substitute  for  coffee  sits  light  on  the  stomach,  is 
nourishing  and  easy  of  digestion,  and  does  not  irritate  the  nerves 
of  weak  persons  or  cause  watchfulness. 

The  following  is  the  mode  of  preparing.  —  Wash  raw  potatoes 
clean,  cut  them  into  small  square  pieces,  of  about  the  size  of  an 
hazle  nut ;  put  them  into  a  broad  dish  or  pan,  set  them  in  a 
temperate  stove,  or  in  an  oven  after  the  bread  is  taken  out,  stir 
them  frequently,  to  prevent  them  from  sticking  together,  in  order 
that  they  may  dry  regularly ;  when  they  are  perfectly  dry,  put  them 
into  a  dry  bag  or  box  secure,  and  they  will  keep  for  any  length 
of  time. 

When  they  are  to  be  used,  they  must  be  roasted  or  burnt  in  the 
same  manner  as  coffee,  and  ground  in  a  mill  or  reduced  to  powder 
in  a  mortar.  Small  potatoes  are  as  good  as  large  ones  —  the  po- 
tatoes generally  considered  of  the  meaner  kind  are  better  than 
the  mealy,  and  the  skins  and  parings  are  best  of  all.  It  is  hoped 
none  will  be  so  prejudiced  against  this  recommendation  as  not 
to  try  it  —  a  trial  will  confirm  what  may  appear  to  some  to  be 
doubtful. 

A  laudable  attempt  to  convert  tribulations  into  blessings 
appears  in  a  communication  from  Mr.  Thomas's  own  town, 
which  found  a  place  in  the  Almanac  for  1807  :  — 


1 86  THE   OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

To  the  EDITOR  of  the  FARMERS  ALMANACK. 
IMPORTANT   DISCOVERY. 

IT  has  been  discovered  that  the  Flies,  which,  in  this  section  of 
the  state,  have  been  very  plenty  on  potatoe-vines,  are  a  substitute 
for  the  Cantharides,  (or  Spanish  Flies,)  and  are  much  more  active 
for  blistering,  when  properly  prepared.  The  fly  seems  to  have  a 
near  approach  to  the  beetle  kind,  has  four  legs,  two  pointers  at 
the  fore  part  of  the  head,  a  hard  case  over  the  wings  like  the 
Spanish  flies,  and  is  of  the  size  of  the  fire  bug,  or  fly,  which  ap- 
pears here  in  April,  and  is  of  a  light  slate  colour. 

The  best  method  to  take  them  is  to  put  a  small  quantity  of 
vinegar  in  a  tin  milk-pan  and  brush  them  from  the  tops  of  the 
potatoes  with  the  hand,  which  immediately  kills  them  ;  afterwards 
they  must  be  dried  in  the  sun.  These  animals  are  the  only  thing 
which  draw  a  real  blister,  except  the  Spanish  flies.  The  fly,  if 
not  destroyed,  eats  all  the  leaves,  but  the  fibrous  part,  and  greatly 
injures  the  root ;  but  by  beating  them  off  once  or  twice,  very  little 
damage  is  sustained. 

If  they  should  appear  the  ensuing  year  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
farmers  will  let  their  boys  collect  them.  Two  reasons  will  induce 
them  to  it.  The  first  is  to  prevent  the  insect  from  destroying,  in 
some  measure,  that  very  valuable  and  useful  vegetable  ;  and  in  the 
next,  to  preserve  a  most  useful  article  in  medicine.  For  Can- 
tharides,  our  physicians  have  paid  for  several  years  past,  from  five 
to  sixteen  dollars  per  pound,  as  I  have  been  informed.  The  po- 
tatoe  fly,  or  bug,  appears  about  the  first  of  July,  and  continues 
until  the  middle  of  August — but  generally  becomes  scarce  in 
about  four  weeks  after  its  appearance.  It  has  been  found  on  some 
other  vines,  particularly  on  cucumbers. 

Sterling,  September  I,  1806. 

It  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  "  potato-flies  "  mentioned 
by  this  sanguine  correspondent  were  not  quadrupeds,  as 
he  asserts,  but  had  six  legs,  like  other  insects.  We  may 
even  identify  them,  without  much  risk,  with  the  "  native 


SMALL  ECONOMIES  l8/ 

cantharides  or  blister  bugs  "  discussed  by  Dr.  T.  W.  Harris, 
as  quoted  in  the  Almanac  for  1834.  These  creatures, 
says  the  distinguished  entomologist,  "  are  successfully  em- 
ployed in  medicine  instead  of  the  Spanish  flies,  and  were 
not  the  price  of  labor  among  us  so  high,  might  be  pro- 
cured in  sufficient  quantity  to  supply  the  demand  in  the 
markets  for  this  important  medicinal  agent."  The  letter 
from  Sterling  calls  to  mind  the  heroic  counter-irritants  of 
old-time  medical  practice.  An  insect  "  much  more  active 
for  blistering  "  than  the  Spanish  fly  must  have  been  almost 
as  satisfactory  an  instrument  of  torture  as  the  East  Indian 
moxa  described  by  Sir  William  Temple  in  his  famous 
Essay  upon  the  Cure  of  the  Gout.  Temple's  informant  was 
Monsieur  Zulichem,  a  person  who  "  never  came  into  com- 
pany without  saying  something  that  was  new."  "  He  said 
it  was  a  certain  kind  of  moss  that  grew  in  the  East  Indies; 
that  their  way  was,  whenever  any  body  fell  into  a  fit  of  the 
gout,  to  take  a  small  quantity  of  it,  and  form  it  into  a  figure 
broad  at  bottom  as  a  twopence,  and  pointed  at  top,  to  set 
the  bottom  exactly  upon  the  place  where  the  violence  of 
the  pain  was  fixed ;  then  with  a  small  round  perfumed 
match  (made  likewise  in  the  Indies)  to  give  fire  to  the  top 
of  the  moss;  which  burning  down  by  degrees,  came  at 
length  to  the  skin,  and  burnt  it  till  the  moss  was  consumed 
to  ashes :  that  many  times  the  first  burning  would  remove 
the  pain ;  if  not,  it  was  to  be  renewed  a  second,  third,  and 
fourth  time,  till  it  went  away,  and  till  the  person  found  he 
could  set  his  foot  boldly  to  the  ground  and  walk."  ] 

Here  is  a  suggestion  from  1801  which  has  proved  to 
be  of  greater  practical  value  than  the  receipt  for  Spanish 
flies:  — 

HOGS'    BRISTLES. 

EVERY  species  of  information  that  will  be  advantageous  either 
to  the  land  or  purse  of  the  FARMER,  we  esteem  it  our  duty  to 
1  Works  of  Sir  William  Temple,  1757,  III,  246-7. 


1 88  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

make  public  through  the  medium  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack. 
The  Brush  Manufactory  is  a  late  establishment  in  this  part  of  the 
country,  and  is  now  carried  on  to  a  considerable  extent,  insomuch 
that  large  quantities  of  Bristles  are  imported  from  Europe.  The 
price  which  they  command  we  conceive  must  operate  as  an  in- 
ducement to  Farmers  to  be  careful  in  saving  their  Bristles  for 
market.  The  price  of  Hogs'  Bristles,  in  many  parts  of  the  country, 
particularly  in  Boston  and  Medfield,  is,  we  understand,  33  Cents, 
in  cash,  per  pound. 

Bristles  were  sometimes  regarded  as  the  perquisites  of 
the  boys  on  the  farm.  The  late  Joseph  T.  Buckingham 
tells  us  that  when  he  was  fourteen  years  old  he  was  allowed 
to  sell  to  a  brush-maker  "  the  bristles  that  came  from  the 
swine  as  they  were  slaughtered."  The  first  piece  of  silver 
that  he  ever  possessed  was  a  ninepence  which  he  earned 
in  this  way.  This  was  at  Windham,  Connecticut,  in  I/93-1 

Weeds  may  be  utilized,  it  seems,  as  well  as  "  bugs."  So, 
at  least,  says  the  Almanac  for  1803  :  — 

HORSES. 

MR.  CARTWRIGHT  has  recently  discovered,  that  the  common 
groundsil,  given  plentifully  to   horses  in  the  stable,  will 
effectually  cure  greasy  heels.     It  is  always  of  importance  to  know 
the  uses  to  which  weeds  may  be  applied. 

Soap  and  candles  may  go  together,  as  they  do  in  the 
Almanac  for  1818:  — 

SOAP  MADE   OF   SNOW. 
[From  the  Baltimore  Federal  Gazette] 

Soap  made  of  snow  in  the  following  manner  :  —  Take  and  cut 
into  very  small  pieces  one  pound  of  good  hard  soap ;  dissolve  it 

1  Personal  Memoirs  and  Recollections  of  Literary  Life,  Boston,  1852,  I, 
23-24. 


SMALL   ECONOMIES  189 

with  a  slow  fire  ;  when  dissolved,  put  six  or  eight  pounds  of  clean 
snow  with  it ;  and  after  having  boiled  them  together  well  for  three 
hours,  (or  until  it  shews  a  lather  on  its  surface,)  add  a  wine  glass 
of  fine  salt,  and  let  it  get  cold ;  when  it  will  be  found  the  finest 
soap,  and  to  weigh  as  much  as  the  snow  did  originally. 

AN    IMPROVEMENT    IN    CANDLES. 

A  plan  for  improving  mould  Candles  and  the  quantity  of  their 
light  is  introduced  by  a  writer  in  Spofford's  American  Magazine, 
for  October,  1815,  viz  :  "  Place  a  small  straw  of  rye  or  oats  in  the 
centre  of  the  wick,  the  ends  of  which  may  be  stopped  by  being 
dipped  in  some  bees  wax  or  bayberry  tallow,  to  prevent  the  cavity 
being  filled  with  tallow  in  the  mould  or  in  dipping.  Clipping  the 
lower  end  opens  the  straw  which  is  easily  opened  at  the  upper 
end  by  clipping  off  a  little  piece  ;  and  on  being  lighted,  the  extra 
labour  is  not  to  be  regretted." 

The  following  receipt  is  inserted  at  this  point  because  it 
is  too  good  to  be  lost,  rather  than  because  it  comes  strictly 
under  the  head  of  Small  Economies.  Yet  "old  shoes  that 
are  worn  out"  are  so  carefully  specified  that  perhaps  our 
classification  is  justified  after  all.  It  is  found  in  the  Almanac 
for  1804:  — 

To  prevent  Crows  pulling  up  Indian  Corn. 

A  farmer  has  communicated  to  the  Editor  a  sure  method  to  pre- 
vent Crows  visiting  corn  fields,  which  he  has  practised  for  some 
years,  and  has  ever  been  attended  with  the  desired  effect.  As  those 
mischievous  birds  have  been  very  troublesome  for  some  years  past 
to  many  farmers,  the  following  method  is  thought  worthy  the  public 
attention. 

Take  three  or  four  old  shoes,  that  are  worn  out,  and  fill  the 
toes  of  them  with  sulphur,  or  the  roll  of  brimstone  broken  small, 
make  a  fire  with  chips,  or  any  small  dry  wood  in  or  near  the 
middle  of  your  corn  field  on  a  flat  rock,  or  on  the  bare  mould,  (a 


190      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

rock  being  preferable)  after  planting  your  corn  field,  then  lay  the 
toes  of  the  shoes  on  the  fire  and  let  them  continue  until  the  leather 
be  burnt  through,  and  the  brimstone  has  taken  fire ;  then  after 
sticking  down  poles  of  ten  or  twelve  feet  in  length  at  each  corner 
of  your  field,  and  inclining  them  towards  the  centre,  make  a  string 
fast  to  the  heal  quarters  of  each  shoe,  and  tie  it  fast  to  the  top 
ends  of  the  poles,  letting  the  strings  extend  half  way  down,  and 
when  swinging,  not  to  interfere  with  the  poles ;  and  no  crows  will 
alight  on  your  field  that  season. 

If  anything  will  keep  crows  out  of  a  cornfield,  surely  it 
must  be  this  combination  of  brimstone,  charred  leather, 
and  gibbeted  shoes ! 


INDIAN    SUMMER   AND    THE   COMET 


T 


HE   Farmer's  Calendar  for  May,   1818,  affords  an 
exhilarating  item :  — 


Planting  time  is  close  by  and  we  begin  to  think  of  Indian  dump- 
lings and  puddings.  Be  not  discouraged  about  raising  corn. 
Uncle  Jethro  says  that  the  good  old  Indian  summers  will  return 
again.  He  is  a  great  philosopher  and  astronomer,  and  ascribes 
our  frosty  seasons,  which  have  been  so  troublesome  of  late,  to  the 
spots  in  the  sun,  which  however  he  says,  will  soon  be  entirely 
obliterated.  The  tail  of  the  comet  is  shortly  to  pass  over  the 
sun's  disk,  like  a  dusting  brush,  and  they  will  be  seen  no  more. 

Indian  summer  is  as  familiar  a  phrase  as  can  well  be 
imagined,  and  the  thing  itself  is  confidently  expected  by 
all  of  us  when  late  autumn  comes  round.  The  history  of 
the  term,  however,  is  obscure  enough;  but  much  light  is 
thrown  upon  it  by  Mr.  Albert  Matthews  in  a  learned  paper 
published  by  the  United  States  Weather  Bureau.1 

The  earliest  example  of  the  term  which  Mr.  Matthews 
has  discovered  occurs  in  Major  Ebenezer  Denny's  Journal 
under  the  date  of  October  13,  1794:  "Pleasant  weather. 
The  Indian  summer  here.  Frosty  nights." 2  The  diarist 
must  surely  have  used  a  phrase  that  was  perfectly  familiar 
to  him,  and  of  course  he  adds  no  explanation,  his  entry 
being  intended  for  his  own  eye  alone.  Four  years  later, 
in  June,  1798,  Dr.  Mason  F.  Cogswell,  describing  the  pre- 

1  The  Term  Indian  Summer,  Monthly  Weather  Review  for  January  and 
February,  1902. 

2  Military  Journal,  Memoirs  Hist.  Soc.  of  Penn.,  VII,  402. 


192      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

ceding  winter  at  Hartford,  Connecticut,  remarks :  "  About 
the  beginning  of  January  the  weather  softened  considerably, 
and  continued  mild  for  several  days.  Most  people  sup- 
posed the  Indian  summer  was  approaching  (a  week  or  fort- 
night of  warm  weather,  which  generally  takes  place  about 
the  middle  of  January),  but,  instead  of  this,  there  succeeded 
to  these  pleasant  days  a  delightful  fall  of  snow,  about  a  foot 
in  depth,  which  was  bound  down  by  an  incrustation  of  hail, 
and  prevented  from  blowing  in  heaps  by  the  winds  which 
followed."1  In  1803  the  French  traveller  Volney,  who 
visited  America  between  1795  and  1798,  mentioned  the 
Indian  summer  as  occurring  towards  November  and 
equated  it  with  the  "  St.  Martin's  summer"  of  the  French.2 
These  are  the  only  writers  of  the  eighteenth  century,  so 
far  as  we  know,  who  employ  the  term  Indian  summer  at  all. 
They  are,  however,  quite  independent  of  each  other,  and 
their  testimony  establishes  one  fact  beyond  peradventure : 
the  phrase  was  common  among  the  people  in  the  last  decade 
of  that  century.  The  presumption  is  that  it  had  been  in 
use  a  good  while,  and  we  are  not  surprised  therefore  to 
learn  that  in  1809  Dr.  Shadrach  Ricketson,  of  New  York, 
wrote  of  the  name  as  "  long  known  in  this  country."3  Five 
more  examples  have  been  discovered  by  Mr.  Matthews 
before  1820,  to  which  that  from  the  Almanac  for  1818  may 
now  be  added  as  a  sixth.  From  this  time  the  term  be- 
comes frequent.  Its  picturesqueness  and  agreeable  asso- 
ciations commended  it  to  writers  of  every  grade  and  it  was 
soon  established  in  literature  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic. 
It  lent  itself  readily  to  figurative  applications.  As  early  as 
1830  De  Quincey  wrote  of  the  great  Bentley :  "  An  Indian 
summer  crept  stealthily  over  his  closing  days ;  a  summer 

1  Medical  Repository,  II,  282. 

-  Tableau  du  Climat  et  du  Sol  des  fitats-Unis  d'Amerique,  Paris,  1803, 
I,  283. 

3  Medical  Repository,  Second  Hexade,  VI,  187. 


JOHAKNIS    HEVELII 

COMETOGRAPHIA. 

Hnrrr"! 


INDIAN   SUMMER  AND   THE   COMET  193 

less  gaudy  than  the  mighty  summer  of  the  solstice,  but 
sweet,  golden,  silent;  happy,  though  sad;  and  to  Bentley 
...  it  was  never  known  that  this  sweet  mimicry  of  sum- 
mer—  a  spiritual  or  fairy  echo  of  a  mighty  music  that  has 
departed  —  is  as  frail  and  transitory  as  it  is  solemn,  quiet, 
and  lovely."  l  So  thoroughly  has  the  term  become  a  part 
of  the  English  language,  that  the  Poet  Laureate,  in  address- 
ing Queen  Victoria  on  her  birthday  in  1899,  could  find  no 
more  appropriate  designation  for  her  gracious  old  age  than 
"the  Indian  Summer  of  your  days."  Few  Americanisms 
have  had  so  triumphant  a  progress. 

The  origin  of  the  term  Indian  summer  is  a  mystery. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  it  was  employed  in  the  early  days 
of  American  colonization  or  that  it  was  derived  by  the 
white  man  from  the  aborigines.  Nobody  has  left  it  on 
record,  as  we  have  seen,  before  1794.  Nor  are  there  any 
comments  on  the  phenomenon  itself  in  older  writers  on 
America.  Yet  there  were  several  English  names  for  this 
charming  and  elusive  season,  and  some  or  all  of  them  our 
forefathers  must  have  brought  to  this  country  with  them. 
"  All-hallown  summer,"  i.  e.  the  summer  of  All  Hallows  or 
All  Saints,  is  one.  It  is  jestingly  applied  to  Falstaff  by 
Prince  Hal  in  the  First  Part  of  King  Henry  IV:  — "  Fare- 
well, thou  latter  spring  !  farewell,  All-hallown  summer  !  " 
(act  i,  scene  2.)  Both  epithets  characterize  Falstaff  as  an 
old  youth.  Another  English  name,  adapted  from  the 
French,  is  "  St.  Martin's  summer,"  which  occurs  in  the 
First  Part  of  Henry  VI  (act  i,  scene  2)  :  — 

This  night  the  siege  assuredly  I  '11  raise  : 
Expect  Saint  Martin's  summer,  halcyon  days, 
Since  I  have  entered  into  these  wars. 

All  Hallows  is  November  i  and  St.  Martin's  day  is 
November  14,  so  that  these  designations  agree  well  enough 
with  the  current  expectation  in  America,  where  we  look  for 

i  Works,  Edinburgh,  1862-63,  VI,  180. 
13 


194      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

our  Indian  summer  in  the  late  fall  and  feel  defrauded  if  we 
do  not  get  it.  "  St.  Luke's  Summer"  is  also  heard  in  Eng- 
land, but  its  antiquity  is  not  certain.  St.  Luke's  Day  falls 
on  October  i8th.  Whatever  designations  for  this  season 
the  colonists  may  have  brought  with  them  died  out  and 
left  no  trace,  and  "Indian  summer"  has  been  substituted 
for  them,  not  only  in  America,  but,  as  we  have  seen,  in 
England  as  well,  where,  however,  some  of  the  other  names 
have  survived  in  the  dialects. 

Naturally  enough  there  is,  and  always  has  been,  con- 
siderable latitude  in  the  date  of  Indian  summer.  Thoreau, 
in  his  Autumn,  notes  Indian  summer  weather,  from  1851 
to  1860,  on  September  2/th,  October  7th,  I3th,  I4th,  3ist, 
November  ist,  7th,  8th,  I7th,  23d,  25th,  December  7th, 
roth,  and  I3th,  and  there  are  other  examples  of  similar 
laxity.  But  that  does  not  really  make  against  the  prevail- 
ing tendency,  which  is  strongly  in  favor  of  late  autumn, 
and  this  appears  to  be  the  time  of  the  German  "Old 
women's  summer"  (Altweibersommer)  or  "After-summer" 
(Nachsommer)  as  well. 

It  is  rather  idle  to  speculate  as  to  the  original  significance 
of  Indian  in  the  phrase  we  are  considering,  since  we  are 
ignorant  of  the  history  of  the  expression  before  1794. 
Many  guesses  have  been  made.  Charles  Brockden  Brown, 
the  first  American  novelist,  thought  that  the  season  owed 
its  name  "to  its  being  predicted  by  the  natives  to  the  first 
emigrants,  who  took  the  early  frosts  as  the  signal  for 
winter."  1  This  is  altogether  improbable.  The  first  emi- 
grants needed  no  aboriginal  prophet  to  make  them  look 
for  fine  warm  days  in  late  autumn,  for  they  had  noticed 
such  weather  at  home,  and  must  have  had  a  name  for  it ; 
or  else  they  were  different  from  other  Englishmen  of  their 
time,  and,  indeed,  from  Europeans  in  general.  The  most 

1  Note  in  his  translation  of  Volney,  View  of  the  Soil  and  Climate  of  the 
United  States,  Philadelphia,  1804,  p.  210. 


INDIAN   SUMMER  AND   THE   COMET  195 

popular  explanation  derives  the  term  from  the  Indian  cus- 
tom of  burning  over  the  woods  in  November  to  destroy 
the  underbrush,  —  a  practice  which  was  noted  by  the  early 
settlers,  who  found  the  forests  so  open  that  they  could  ride 
through  them  without  difficulty.  This  explanation  also  is 
of  no  value.  Though  haziness  is  often  regarded  as  charac- 
teristic of  the  weather  in  the  Indian  summer,  and  though 

o 

this  peculiar  quality  of  the  air  was  sometimes  said  to  be 
due  to  the  fires  kindled  by  the  natives,  —  it  is  a  long  saltus 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  name  Indian  summer  has  to  do 
with  the  practice  in  question,  nor  are  the  logical  steps  easy 
to  reconstruct.  Far  more  reasonable  is  the  conjecture  that 
the  name  alludes  to  the  proverbial  deceitfulness  and  treach- 
ery of  the  natives.  Increase  Mather,  in  speaking  of  John 
Sassamon's  report  of  King  Philip's  intended  hostilities,  re- 
marks that  "his  Information  (because  it  had  an  Indian 
Original,  and  one  can  hardly  believe  them  when  they  speak 
Truth)  was  not  at  first  much  regarded."1  Or  possibly  we 
should  think  rather  of  their  equally  proverbial  instability. 
Nothing  is  more  fickle  than  the  weather  in  Indian  sum- 
mer; though  this  is  a  quality  that  might  be  predicated  of 
our  weather  in  general,  for,  as  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  wrote 
in  1789,  of  the  climate  of  Pennsylvania,  "perhaps  there  is 
but  one  steady  trait  in  [its]  character  .  .  .  and  that  is,  it  is 
uniformly  variable."  2  "  Indian  giving,"  we  may  remember, 
is  making  a  present  and  taking  it  back  again,  after  the 
manner  of  children  when  they  repent  of  an  impulse  of 
generosity.  Or,  finally,  if  it  is  permissible  to  add  another 
guess  to  the  futilities  of  one's  predecessors,  it  is  conceivable 
that  Indian  summer  was  at  first  equivalent  to  "fool's  sum- 
mer." If  so,  we  seem  to  have  a  parallel  to  the  "  Old 
Women's  Summer"  of  the  Germans  and  it  may  be  also  to 
the  "  Go-summer  "  of  the  Scots,  if  this  is  a  corruption  of 

1  Relation  of  the  Troubles,  etc.,  Boston,  1677,  p.  74;  ed.  Drake,  Early 
History  of  New  England,  1864,  p.  234. 

2  American  Museum,  1790,  VII,  334. 


196      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

"  Goose-summer,"  as  scholars  suppose.  To  call  the  Indians 
fools  may  at  first  appear  inconsistent  with  what  our  ances- 
tors observed  of  their  cunning  and  their  strategic  powers ; 
but  there  is  no  real  difficulty.  Nothing  impressed  the  logi- 
cal and  hard-headed  settlers  more  than  the  folly  of  the  red 
men  in  certain  matters — particularly  in  their  religious 
beliefs.  "  Poor  captivated  men,"  "  bondslaves  to  sin  and 
Satan,"  "miserable  heathen,"  "miserable  salvages,"  "poor, 
naked,  ignorant  Indians,"  "  forlorn  and  wretched  heathen," 
"  stupid  and  senseless,"  "  these  doleful  creatures,"  "  the 
ruins  of  mankind"1  —  such  are  some  of  the  epithets  ap- 
plied to  the  Indians,  —  now  in  scorn,  now  in  pity,  —  by 
New  England  writers  of  the  seventeenth  century ;  and  there 
are  anecdotes  enough  in  illustration  of  the  simplicity  of  the 
aborigines.  "  They  are  treacherous,  suspicious  and  jealous," 
writes  Hugh  Jones,  "  difficult  to  be  persuaded  or  imposed 
upon,  and  very  sharp,  hard  in  Dealing,  and  ingenious  in 
their  Way,  and  in  Things  that  they  naturally  know,  or 
have  been  taught;  though  at  first  they  are  very  obstinate, 
and  unwilling  to  apprehend  or  learn  Novelties,  and  seem 
stupid  and  silly  to  Strangers."2  "Fool's  summer,"  though 
not  pretty,  would  be  appropriate  enough,  and  would  range 
well  with  "  fool's  gold  "  for  iron  pyrites,  "  fool's  parsley  " 
for  the  poisonous  lesser  hemlock,  and  ignis  fatuus  or 
"  fool's  fire  "  for  the  will-o'-the-wisp. 

In  Henry  VI,  it  will  be  remembered,  "  halcyon  days  " 
is  used  as  a  synonym  for  "St.  Martin's  summer"  in  a 
figurative  sense.  The  Greek  myth  told  how  Alcyone,  when 
she  saw  the  body  of  her  shipwrecked  husband  Ceyx,  threw 
herself  into  the  sea,  and  how  both  were  changed  into 
kingfishers  by  the  compassionate  gods.  For  fourteen 
days  (or,  as  Ovid  says,  for  seven)  in  the  winter  season  the 

1  Eliot  Tracts,  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  3rd  Series,  IV,  202,  266;  Mather, 
Magnalia,  ed.  1853,  I,  556,  558,  561. 

2  The  Present  State  of  Virginia,  London,  1724,  Sabin's  reprint,  pp.  n,  12. 


INDIAN   SUMMER   AND   THE   COMET  197 

mother  bird  sits  brooding  on  the  nest,  which  floats  on  the 
waves.  During  all  this  time  the  sea  is  calm  and  sailors 
may  voyage  in  safety.1  This,  then,  is  the  Indian  summer 
of  the  Greeks. 

It  would  not  be  fair  either  to  the  Indians  or  to  the 
reader  to  bring  these  observations  to  a  close  without 
mentioning  the  myth  of  the  god  Nanibozhu  as  narrated 
by  the  Rev.  Peter  Jones  in  1861  in  his  History  of  the 
Ojebway  Indians.  "  This  Nanahbozhoo,"  writes  Mr.  Jones, 
"  now  sits  at  the  North  Pole,  overlooking  all  the  transac- 
tions and  affairs  of  the  people  he  has  placed  on  the  earth. 
The  Northern  tribes  say  that  Nanahbozhoo  always  sleeps 
during  the  winter;  but,  previous  to  his  falling  asleep,  fills 
his  great  pipe,  and  smokes  for  several  days,  and  that  it  is 
the  smoke  arising  from  the  mouth  and  pipe  of  Nanahbozhoo 
which  produces  what  is  called  'Indian  summer.'  "2 

The  story  of  Nanibozhu  is  at  least  three  centuries  old, 
but  unfortunately  no  allusion  to  his  smoking  has  been 
found  earlier  than  1852,  when  the  Rev.  Peter  Jacobs 
(Pahtahsega),  a  native  Indian,  writing  of  the  region  on  the 
border  of  Lake  Superior,  told  of  a  remarkable  stone  which 
was  held  in  much  veneration  by  the  savages.  "  The  stone 
looks  as  if  some  man  had  sat  on  the  rock  and  made  an 
impression  on  it,  as  one  would  on  the  snow  in  winter. 
This  was  not  carved  by  any  Indian,  but  it  is  very  natural. 
The  impression  is  very  large,  and  is  about  six  times  as 
large  as  an  impression  made  in  the  snow  by  a  man.  The 
Indians  say  that  Nanahboshoo,  a  god,  sat  here  long  ago, 
and  smoked,  and  that  he  left  it  for  the  west.  Every  time 
the  Indians  pass  here,  they  leave  tobacco  at  the  stone,  that 
Nanahboshoo  might  smoke  in  his  kingdom  in  the  west."3 

There  is  no  evidence  that  Mr.  Jones,  himself  an  Indian, 

1  Ovid,  Metamorphoses,  xi,  745  ff. 

2  History  of  the  Ojebway  Indians,  London,  1861,  p.  35. 
*  Journal,  2d  ed.,  Boston,  1853,  p.  16. 


198       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

copied  from  Mr.  Jacobs,  but  there  is  much  ground  for  the 
suspicion  that  the  former's  mention  of  Indian  summer  was 
a  modern  addition  to  the  myth.  The  subject  of  this  myth, 
however,  is  too  complicated  to  admit  of  a  dogmatic  or 
summary  decision,  and  so  we  may  leave  it  wrapped  in 
the  haze  of  Nanibozhu's  gigantic  pipe. 

Uncle  Jethro's  prediction  of  a  return  of  the  good  old- 
fashioned  Indian  summers  is  intended  especially  to  en- 
courage the  farmer  to  hope  for  a  better  crop  of  corn.  In 
this  connection  we  may  note  the  words  of  the  Rev.  Manasseh 
Cutler,  whose  meteorological  observations  at  Ipswich  for 
1781-83,  were  printed  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Memoirs 
of  the  American  Academy  (1785).  Under  September, 
1781,  Mr.  Cutler  remarks:  "Fine  weather  for  ripening 
Indian  corn,  and  making  salt  hay,  of  which  there  are  good 
crops  "  ;  and  under  November  he  adds  :  "  Indian  corn  well 
ripened,  and  a  good  crop."  The  Farmer's  Calendar  for 
the  beginning  of  October,  1799,  remarks:  "  Indian  harvest 
will  now  call  your  attention,  which  had  better  have  it  before 
the  ears  get  down,  and  heavy  rains  come  on."  This  term, 
"  Indian  harvest,"  occurs  as  early  as  1642.*  It  means  the 
"  harvesting  of  Indian  corn,"  and  is  opposed  to  "  English 
harvest,"  which  signifies  the  "  harvesting  of  English  grain," 
or  wheat.  There  may  be  some  connection  between  the 
phrases  "Indian  summer"  and  "Indian  harvest,"  for,  as 
Uncle  Jethro  suggests,  a  good  Indian  summer  is  conducive 
to  a  good  crop  of  Indian  corn;  but  it  is  difficult  to  see 
how  either  phrase  can  actually  be  derived  from  the  other. 

Uncle  Jethro's  attitude  of  mind  toward  the  sun  spots 
and  the  comet  is  noteworthy.  The  spots  in  the  sun  have 
made  the  autumns  cold  so  that  there  have  been  no  Indian 
summers ;  but  the  comet  is  to  set  everything  right  again, 
for  it  will  sweep  away  the  spots  with  a  whisk  of  its  tail. 
This  is  an  unaccustomed  r61e  for  a  comet;  for  such  "  blaz- 
1  Albert  Matthews,  The  Nation,  March  8,  1900,  LXX,  183-4. 


INDIAN   SUMMER  AND   THE   COMET  199 

ing  stars,"  as  they  used  to  be  called,  were  never  held  to  be 
beneficent  in  their  effects.  But  Uncle  Jethro  is  an  original, 
and  his  portrait  is  of  course  meant  as  a  caricature  of  those 
belated  souls  who  still  believed,  in  1818,  that  comets  ruled 
the  weather  or  were  otherwise  portentous. 

The  wise  men  of  New  England  had  not  always  been 
so  skeptical  about  blazing  stars.  In  1680  Increase  Mather 
was  inspired  by  the  comet  of  that  year  to  preach  a  terrify- 
ing sermon,  which  was  printed  under  the  title  of  Heaven's 
Alarm  to  the  World.  .  .  .  wherein  is  shewed,  that  Fearful 
Sights  and  Signs  in  Heaven,  are  the  Presages  of  Great 
Calamities  at  hand.  Another,  but  less  impressive,  comet 
was  visible  at  Boston  two  years  later,  and  in  1683  Mather 
put  forth  his  Discourse  of  Comets,  in  which  he  went  into 
the  whole  subject  with  the  learning  and  the  superstition  of 
his  age.  He  writes :  — 

There  are  who  think,  that  inasmuch  as  Comets  may  be  sup- 
posed to  proceed  from  natural  causes,  there  is  no  speaking  voice 
of  Heaven  in  them,  beyond  what  is  to  be  said  of  all  other  works 
of  God.  But  certain  it  is,  that  many  things  which  may  happen 
according  to  the  course  of  nature,  are  portentous  signs  of  divine 
anger,  and  prognosticks  of  great  evils  hastening  upon  the  world. 
.  .  .  Thunder,  Lightning,  Hail,  and  Rain,  are  from  natural  causes, 
yet  are  they  sometimes  signs  of  God's  holy  displeasure.  .  .  . 
Earthquakes  are  from  natural  causes,  yet  there  is  many  times  a 
very  speaking  voice  of  God  in  them.1 

Accordingly  Mather  undertakes  to  write  a  history  of 
comets  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the  year  1683, 
appending  in  each  case  an  account  of  the  direful  effects 
that  followed  the  prodigy.  As  to  the  comet  of  1682,  he 
expresses  himself  with  becoming  caution.  Yet  at  the  same 
time  he  displays  a  high  degree  of  assurance  when  it  comes 

1  KOMHTOrPA*IA.  Or  a  Discourse  concerning  Comets,  Boston,  1683, 
pp.  18-19. 


2OO         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

to  interpreting  mysterious  passages  in  the  Scriptures.  He 
takes  to  task  an  anonymous  astrologer  in  London  who 
has  made  certain  very  definite  predictions, — a  "  prophe- 
taster,"  he  calls  him,  who  ventures  to  foretell  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Turks  and  the  destruction  of  Rome  by  that 
people.  Neither  of  these  events,  he  declares,  can  possibly 
happen,  for  both  are  contrary  to  passages  in  Numbers, 
Daniel,  and  Revelation.  He  is,  of  course,  convinced  that 
the  pope  is  Antichrist,  and  has  no  doubt  that  Rome  is  to 
be  destroyed  "  by  some  of  those  horns  which  have  given 
their  power "  to  him,  "  which  the  Turks  never  did,  Rev, 
17,  1 6."  It  is  likely,  however,  that  the  comet  portends 
various  atmospheric  disturbances  —  "a  cold  and  tedious 
Winter,  much  Snow,  and  consequently  great  Floods ; 
Malignant  and  Epidemical  Diseases;  in  especial  the 
Plague."  l 

Seventy-five  years  later  Professor  John  Winthrop,  who, 
as  we  shall  presently  see,  received  the  first  degree  of 
LL.  D.  from  Harvard  College,2  published  his  Lectures 
on  Comets.3  One  might  spend  an  hour  with  less  profit 
than  in  comparing  the  philosophic  calm  of  Winthrop  with 
the  frenzied  eloquence  of  the  former  age.  Yet  the  clergy 
had  not  altogether  abandoned  the  older  point  of  view.  On 
another  occasion  Professor  Winthrop  found  it  necessary 
to  join  issue  with  a  learned  Boston  divine  in  a  matter  of 
scientific  and  religious  import.  This  was  in  1755,  when  all 
New  England  was  startled  by  an  earthquake.  There  had 
been  many  earthquakes  in  this  region,  but  this  one  was 
of  unusual  violence  and  caused  much  alarm.  Professor 
Winthrop  interrupted  the  regular  course  of  his  instruction 
in  natural  philosophy,  and  delivered  a  lecture  in  the  College 
chapel,  describing  the  earthquake  and  discussing  the 

1  Discourse,  pp.  129-30. 

2  See  p.  235,  below. 

3  Two  Lectures  on  Comets,  Boston,  1759. 


&      __  KOMHTOTPACplA. 
$  O  R      A~ 

^  Difcourfe    Concerning 

1  COMETS; 

ace 

|j  tobtni*  tie  N*t*rt  of  3  LAZING  STARS 

^K  i/  Enquired  into: 

2  With  an  Hiftorical  Account  of  all  the  COMETS 
5K  which  have  appeared  from  the  Beginning  of  the 
1  World  unto  tbisprefent  Year,  M.DC.LXXXIH. 


The  Place  in  the  Heavens,  where  they  were  (een, 
&      Their  Motion,  Forms,  Duration  3  and  the  Re- 
K  tnarkable  Events  which  have  followed 

in  the  World,  fo  far  as  thr^.  have  been 
by  learned  MenObfcrved. 

At  *lfo  two     SERMONS 

Occafi  oned  by  the  late  BU*,i»t  Stars. 

- 


By  INCREASE  MATHER  Teacher  of  a  Church 
at  foy?0n  in  N'em-Enghnd. 


BOSTON   JN  NEw-ENGLJND 
^  Printed  by  J.  c.  for  S.  S.    And  fold  by  ?.  Sro^he 
,fc  At  the  corner  of  the  PrifonLane  next  the  Town- 
Houfe     168. 


Plal.  1  1  1.  2..  rfe  Tpor^j  of  the  Lord  are  great,  fought 

out  ff  til  them  that  bAvcyleifure  therein.  |» 

P  Amos  9.  6.  ^e  fiaiMrti  Wf  /?or»«  w  tk  /fetven. 


INDIAN   SUMMER  AND   THE   COMET  2OI 

general  subject,  with  particular  reference  to  the  cause  of 
such  disturbances.  He  follows  a  strictly  scientific  method, 
dwells  on  the  undulatory  character  of  the  shock,  and  as- 
cribes the  phenomena  to  the  action  of  heat  in  the  interior 
of  the  globe,  insisting  particularly  on  the  connection  between 
earthquakes  and  volcanic  eruptions.  His  lecture  was  pub- 
lished "  by  the  general  desire  "  of  the  College.1 

At  almost  the  same  moment,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Prince, 
pastor  of  the  South  Church  in  Boston,  was  preparing  a  new 
edition  of  a  sermon  called  Earthquakes  the  Works  of 
God,  and  Tokens  of  His  Just  Displeasure,  which  he  had 
published  twenty-eight  years  before,  just  after  the  Earth- 
quake of  1/27.  In  the  reprint2  Mr.  Prince  inserted  an 
"  Appendix  concerning  the  Operation  of  God  in  Earth- 
quakes by  means  of  the  Electrical  Substance,"  and  here 
he  followed  a  line  of  argument  which  forced  the  Hollisian 
Professor  to  reply  in  a  postscript  to  his  published  lec- 
ture. Mr.  Prince,  it  appears,  was  opposed  to  the  use  of 
lightning  rods,  which  had  become  very  popular  as  the 
result  of  Franklin's  experiments.  He  regarded  all  such 
attempts  to  escape  the  wrath  of  the  Almighty  as  question- 
able devices,  hardly  to  be  distinguished,  we  may  suppose, 
from  Jonah's  impious  effort  to  evade  the  manifest  will  of 
God ;  and  the  earthquake  afforded  him  an  opportunity 
to  set  forth  his  views.  According  to  Mr.  Prince's  theory, 
earthquakes  are  caused  by  electric  shocks  in  the  earth  and 
are  strictly  analagous  to  the  phenomena  of  thunder  and 
lightning.  His  warning  against  lightning  rods  is  attached 
to  a  singular  piece  of  reasoning:  — 

The  more  Points  of  Iron  are  erected  round  the  Earth,  to  draw 
the  Electrical  Substance  out  of  the  Air ;  the  more  the  Earth 
must  needs  be  charged  with  it.  And  therefore  it  seems  worthy 

1  A  Lecture  on  Earthquakes,  Boston,  1755. 

2  Boston,  1755. 


202         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

of  Consideration,  Whether  any  Part  of  the  Earth  being  fuller  of 
this  terrible  Substance,  may  not  be  more  exposed  to  more  shock- 
ing Earthquakes.  In  Boston  are  more  erected  than  any  where 
else  in  New  England ;  and  Boston  seems  to  be  more  dreadfully 
shaken.  O  !  there  is  no  getting  out  of  the  mighty  Hand  of  GOD  ! 
If  we  think  to  avoid  it  in  the  Air,  we  cannot  in  the  Earth :  Yea 
it  may  grow  more  fatal. 

It  was  easy  for  Professor  Winthrop  to  expose  the  fallacies 
in  this  remarkable  pronunciamento,  and  we  cannot  too 
much  admire  the  dignity  and  the  consideration  for  Mr. 
Prince's  position  with  which  he  replies  to  the  somewhat 
hysterical  words  of  the  preacher.  After  effectually  dis- 
posing of  Mr.  Prince's  theories  in  general,  he  adverts,  with 
a  certain  stately  humor,  to  the  alleged  severity  of  the  earth- 
quake in  Boston  and  to  the  supposed  maleficent  influence 
of  the  "iron  points  "  :  — 

I  know  no  reason  to  think  [he  writes]  that '  Boston  was  more 
dreadfully  shaken  '  than  other  towns.  Some  of  the  effects  of  the 
earthquake  may  have  been  more  considerable,  for  their  number, 
there  than  elsewhere ;  but  the  reason  of  this  is,  not  that  '  in 
Boston  are  more  points  of  iron  erected  than  any  where  else  in 
New-England,'  but  that  there  are  more  brick  houses  erected 
there.  For  the  effect  of  a  shock  is  more  considerable  upon  brick- 
work than  upon  wood-work.  The  reasons  of  this  are  obvious ; 
and  that  it  is  so  in  fact,  plainly  appeared  by  our  chimnies  being 
every  where  more  shattered  than  any  thing  else :  Though  this 
was  in  part  owing  to  their  being  the  highest  parts  of  buildings. 

His  protest  against  the  admonitory  application  in  which 
Mr.  Prince  indulged  could  hardly  be  improved :  — 

I  should  think,  though  with  the  utmost  deference  to  superior 
judgements,  that  the  pathetic  exclamation,  which  comes  next, 
might  well  enough  have  been  spared.  "  O  !  there  is  no  getting 
out  of  the  mighty  hand  of  GOD  !  "  For  I  cannot  believe,  that  in 


INDIAN   SUMMER  AND   THE   COMET  203 

the  whole  town  of  Boston,  where  so  many  iron  points  are  erected, 
there  is  so  much  as  one  person,  who  is  so  weak,  so  ignorant,  so 
foolish,  or,  to  say  all  in  one  word,  so  atheistical,  as  ever  to  have 
entertained  a  single  thought,  that  it  is  possible,  by  the  help  of  a 
few  yards  of  wire,  to  "  get  out  of  the  mighty  hand  of  GOD."  1 

Winthrop  was  somewhat  ahead  of  his  time.  Just  twenty- 
five  years  later,  in  1780,  came  the  famous  Dark  Day  of 
May  i Qth.  It  found  the  people  at  large,  and  even  many 
of  the  leaders  among  them,  quite  ready  to  yield  to  super- 
stitious terror.  And,  indeed,  the  phenomenon  was  dis- 
quieting enough.  Whittier's  description,  in  his  Abraham 
Davenport,  is  amply  substantiated  by  contemporary 
records :  — 

'T  was  on  a  May-day  of  the  far  old  year 

Seventeen  hundred  eighty,  that  there  fell 

Over  the  bloom  and  sweet  life  of  the  Spring, 

Over  the  fresh  earth  and  the  heaven  of  noon, 

A  horror  of  great  darkness,  like  the  night 

In  day  of  which  the  Norland  sagas  tell,  — 

The  Twilight  of  the  Gods.     The  low-hung  sky 

Was  black  with  ominous  clouds,  save  where  its  rim 

Was  fringed  with  a  dull  glow,  like  that  which  climbs 

The  crater's  sides  from  the  red  hell  below. 

Birds  ceased  to  sing,  and  all  the  barn-yard  fowls 

Roosted;  the  cattle  at  the  pasture  bars 

Lowed,  and  looked  homeward  ;  bats  on  leathern  wings 

Flitted  abroad;  the  sounds  of  labor  died  ; 

Men  prayed,  and  women  wept ;  all  ears  grew  sharp 

To  hear  the  doom-blast  of  the  trumpet  shatter 

The  black  sky,  that  the  dreadful  face  of  Christ 

Might  look  from  the  rent  clouds,  not  as  he  looked 

A  loving  guest  at  Bethany,  but  stern 

As  Justice  and  inexorable  Law. 

There  were  innumerable  conjectures  as  to  the  cause  of 
the  darkness,  —  some  ridiculous,  others  philosophical,  — 

1  Lecture,  p.  37. 


204      THE  °LD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

but  no  document  preserved  to  us  affords  a  better  idea  of 
the  confusion  of  men's  minds  than  the  following  passage 
from  a  letter  of  Dr.  Jeremy  Belknap  in  Dover,  New  Hamp- 
shire, to  his  friend  Ebenezer  Hazard  of  New  York,  June 
5,  1780:  — 

Shall  I  now  entertain  you  with  the  whims  and  apprehensions 
of  mankind  upon  this  unusual  appearance  ?  It  is  not  surprising 
that  the  vulgar  should  turn  it  all  into  prodigy  and  miracle ;  but 
what  would  you  think  of  men  of  sense,  and  of  a  liberal  education, 
if  I  should  tell  you  that  I  heard  one  of  my  very  good  brethren 
in  this  neighbourhood  gravely  assert  in  company  (and  I  have 
been  told  he  did  the  same  in  his  pulpif)  that  it  was  the  fulfilling 
of  Joel's  prophecy  of  a  "  pillar  of  smoke  " ;  and  that  another 
wondered  at  me  for  not  placing  this  phenomenon  in  the  same 
rank  with  Josephus's  signs  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem? 
What  would  you  think  of  one  who  supposed  it  to  be  the  pouring 
out  of  the  yth  vial  into  the  air ;  and  of  another  that  called  his 
congregation  together  during  the  darkness,  and  prayed  that  the 
sun  might  shine  again,  as  if  he  had  forgot  the  promise  to  Noah 
that  "  day  and  night  should  not  cease  "  ?  What  would  you  think 
of  one  who  supposed  the  earth  to  be  passing  through  the  tail  of  a 
comet ;  and  of  another  who  thought  the  nucleus  of  one  had  inter- 
fered between  us  and  the  sun,  so  as  to  make  an  eclipse  ?  How 
many  more  extravagant  conceptions  have  been  formed  by  men, 
whose  minds  one  would  think  had  been  enlarged  by  reason  and 
philosophy,  I  know  not.  Doubtless  you  will  hear  enough  on  your 
return  to  make  you  stand  amazed  at  the  power  which  fear  and 
superstition  have  over  the  minds  of  men.  Should  you  collect  any 
observations  on  your  journey,  I  shall  be  greatly  obliged  by  a 
communication  of  them.  I  want  very  much  to  know  the  exact 
limits  of  the  obscuration  and  the  degree  of  it  in  different  places, 
for  it  was  not  everywhere  alike.  In  some  places  the  sun  ap- 
peared in  the  afternoon,  but  here  the  whole  afternoon  was 
uniformly  dark ;  and  the  evening  was  as  total  darkness  as  can  be 
conceived,  with  a  strong  smell  of  smoke,  and  between  nine  and 


INDIAN   SUMMER   AND   THE   COMET  2O$ 

ten  it  grew  lighter,  and  afterwards  continued    until    the    moon 
appeared  through  the  clouds.1 

If  we  compare  the  mental  attitude  of  Dr.  Belknap  with 
that  of  Mr.  Prince  twenty-five  years  before,  remembering 
that  both  were  leaders  of  opinion  in  Boston,  we  shall  get 
a  good  idea  of  the  progress  of  rational  thought  in  the 
second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century.  When  another 
Dark  Day  came,  on  November  2d,  1819,  it  caused  com- 
paratively little  distress  of  mind,  and  the  Yellow  Day  of 
our  own  recollection,  September  6th,  1881,  excited  won- 
der and  curious  speculation,  but  no  terror,  except  among 
the  ignorant. 

Mr.  Thomas  was  always  an  opponent  of  superstition. 
Two  noteworthy  passages  in  the  Almanac  give  humorous 
expression  to  his  general  sentiments.  The  first  is  in  the 
Farmer's  Calendar  for  March,  1827  :  — 

Farmer  Snug  sits  warm  by  his  fire, 
And  his  ale  and  his  nuts  pass  about. 
Old  Betty  and  noisy  Uriah 
Are  steming  the  tempest  without. 

Whew  and  whistle  goes  the  wind  and  superstitious  people 
seem  to  imagine  that  fairies  and  hobgoblins  are  continually  upon 
the  dance  all  about  and  about  and  about.  "  What  a  terrible 
frustration  is  here  !  "  cried  Mrs.  Flitterwinkle.  "  Why  it  seems 
as  if  the  very  heavens  and  earth  were  coming  together  !  They 
say  our  blue  heifer  has  been  blown  clean  across  chickawicket 
pond  !  Farmer  Cleverly's  cattle  have  all  lost  their  tails,  and  just 
as  old  Mrs.  Drizzle  went  to  take  up  her  dinner,  there  came  a 
most  terrifying  gust,  and  swoop  it  carried  porridge  pot,  pork, 
pud'n  and  mother  Drizzle  all  up  chimney  and  nothing  has 
been  heard  of  them  since  !  Ah,  I  knew  this  would  happen ; 
for  the  goose  bone  burnt  blue  yesterday,  and  the  kitten's  tail 
pointed  north  all  day  !  Hark,  what 's  that !  Dear  me  how  pale 
I  feel  !  I  am  afraid  the  moon  is  going  to  fall !  " 

i  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  5th  Series,  II,  54-55. 


206         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Away  with  such  superstitious  nonsense,  and  let  us  be  cutting 
scions  for  grafting ;  or  watching  our  fields,  or  cutting  wood,  or 
making  maple  sugar,  and  other  matters. 

Three  years  later,  in  March,  1830,  the  Farmer's  Calendar 
returns  to  the  charge  :  — 

Why  do  you  conjure  up  a  thousand  frightful  monsters  to 
torment  yourself,  when  there  are  enough  of  real  evils?  Some 
seem  to  think  that  there  is  a  ghost  in  every  gust  of  wind.  Away 
with  such  vain  illusions  of  the  imagination.  Strange  it  is  that  a 
courage,  that  never  startles  at  real  dangers,  should  shrink  at  even 
the  thought  of  an  empty  chimera  !  Signs  and  omens  and  prog- 
nostics continually  fill  the  minds  of  some.  "Ah,  husband,  I 
know  our  crops  will  be  short  next  season,"  said  a  silly  old  woman, 
"  for  the  brine  has  all  leaked  out  of  the  pork  barrel ! "  She 
happened  to  get  a  first  sight  of  the  new  moon  over  her  left 
shoulder,  and  it  made  her  sad  and  glum  through  the  month. 
She  once  dreamed  of  a  black  cat,  and  this  so  bewitched  the 
cream,  that  no  butter  could  be  made  !  Farmer  Bluejoint  has 
nailed  an  Ass's  shoe  to  his  hogsty  to  keep  the  evil  spirit  from  his 
herd  of  swine  ;  for,  it  is  said  that,  old  Splitfoot  has  always  hated 
Asses  since  the  affair  of  Balaam.  The  rats  by  thousands  destroyed 
his  grain.  So,  he  got  his  daughter,  Dolly,  to  write  them  a  threaten- 
ing letter,  which  he.  placed  in  his  corn  crib.  The  consequence 
was  that  every  varment  of  them  immediately  evacuated  the 
place  !  What  power  has  superstition  ! 

The  year  1830  seems  rather  recent  for  the  prevalence  of 
such  notions  as  the  Old  Farmer  is  here  scoffing  at;  but 
we  are  all  more  superstitious  than  we  imagine,  and  it  has 
not  been  difficult  for  students  of  folk-lore  to  collect  a  great 
quantity  of  whimsicalities  from  New  England  people,  even  in 
very  recent  years.  Most  of  them,  to  be  sure,  are  no  longer 
believed,  but  they  were  articles  of  faith  a  few  generations 
ago.  Most  persistent,  probably,  are  the  various  notions 
about  good  and  bad  luck.  Every  reader,  if  he  gives  his 


INDIAN   SUMMER  AND   THE   COMET  2OJ 

mind  to  it,  can  think  of  a  score  that  he  has  been  brought 
up  on,  unless  he  is  a  very  sophisticated  person  indeed. 
Horseshoes,  and  Friday,  and  walking  under  a  ladder,  and 
odd  numbers,  and  picking  up  pins,  will  do  for  texts. 
Letters  to  rats  are  still  written  now  and  then,  and  have  as 
much  effects  as  they  ever  had.  We  have  not  altogether 
broken  with  the  past! 


ARMY   AND   NAVY 

IN  June,  1801,  when  Europe  and  America  were  both 
payers  of  tribute  to  the  Barbary  States,  for  exemp- 
tion from  piratical  attacks  on  their  shipping,  the 
Bey  of  Tunis  met  with  a  serious  loss.  A  fire  broke  out  in 
his  palace  and  consumed  fifty  thousand  stands  of  arms.  He 
immediately  sent  for  the  American  consul  and  remarked 
that  he  had  "  apportioned  his  loss  among  his  friends,"  that 
the  share  of  the  United  States  was  ten  thousand  stands, 
and  that  they  must  be  furnished  without  delay.  "  It  is  im- 
possible," replied  the  consul,  "  to  state  this  claim  to  my  gov- 
ernment. We  have  no  magazines  of  small  arms.  The 
organization  of  our  national  strength  is  different  from  that 
of  every  other  nation  on  earth.  Each  citizen  carries  his 
own  arms,  always  ready,  for  battle.  When  threatened 
with  invasion,  or  actually  invaded,  detachments  from  the 
whole  national  body  are  sent  by  rotation  to  serve  in  the 
field :  so  that  we  have  no  need  of  standing  armies  nor  de- 
positories of  arms."  * 

The  most  picturesque  feature  of  the  military  system 
thus  forcibly  expounded  to  the  sulky  and  incredulous 
Tunisian  despot  was  May  Training,  which  many  New 
Englanders  of  the  older  generation  remember  as  the 
favorite  holiday  of  their  boyhood.  Besides  the  inspec- 
tions, mock  fights,  and  miscellaneous  evolutions,  there 
were  shooting  matches,  feats  of  strength,  side  shows, 
fakirs,  and  other  accessories  of  the  modern  county  fair. 
Boys  saved  their  coppers  for  months  and  walked  barefoot 

1  Life  of  Gen.  William  Eaton,  Brookfield,  1813,  pp.  204-5. 


ARMY   AND   NAVY  2O9 

for  miles  to  enjoy  the  fun.     When   they  were   eighteen 
years  old,  they  were  themselves  liable  to  military  duty. 

Mr.  Thomas  was  so  good  an  American,  and  his  annual 
represented  the  life  of  his  time  so  well,  that  we  should  be 
surprised  if  he  did  not  refer  to  the  obligations  of  a  citizen 
in  military  matters  as  well  as  in  civil.  We  shall  not  find 
him  lacking  in  proper  spirit  In  the  Farmer's  Calendar 
for  September,  1811,  there  is  a  suggestion  to  parents:  - 

If  your  sons  have  no  uniform  for  trainings,  you  ought  imme- 
diately to  see  that  they  are  supplied.  Send  them  to  training 
neat  and  clean,  with  good  equipments,  and  inculcate  in  them  the 
principles  of  subordination  and  decency  of  behaviour  while  under 
command. 

In  1816  the  Almanac  gives  a  table  of  fines  which 
affords  a  certain  amount  of  curious  information.  The 
"  two  spare  flints,  priming  wire,  and  brush  "  recall  forcibly 
the  progress  of  gunmaking  in  the  course  of  a  century. 
Everybody  has  seen  flints,  but  few  of  the  younger  genera- 
tion have  ever  snapped  a  flintlock,  and  "  a  flash  in  the 
pan  "  has  become  a  mere  figure  of  speech,  as  archaic  in 
its  flavor  as  "  hoist  with  his  own  petard."  As  for  "  prim- 
ing wires  and  brushes,"  they  are  preserved  as  relics  and 
curiosities,  but  most  of  us  have  very  hazy  ideas  of  their 
exact  function.  However,  it  is  high  time  to  give  the  table 
of  penalties. 

MILITARY   FINES,   ACCORDING  TO   THE   LATEST 
MILITIA   LAW,    PASSED    IN    1810. 

dolls,  cts. 

NON  appearance  ist  Tuesday  in  May  3  oo 

Do             do.         at  company  training  2  oo 

Deficiency  of  gun,  bayonet  and  belt,  or  ramrod  i  oo 

Do.              of  cartridge  box,  cartridges  or  knapsack  o  30 

Do.              of  two  spare  flints,  priming  wire,  or  brush  o  20 

14 


2  JO         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

dolls,  cts. 
Disorderly  firing,  not  more  than  20  dollars  nor  less 

than  5  oo 

Neglecting  to  warn  for  exercise,  not  more  than  twenty 

dollars  nor  less  than  12  oo 

Neglect  of  regimental  duty  4  oo 

Disorderly  behaviour,  not  more  than  20  dollars  nor 

less  than  5  oo 

Neglecting  to  meet  to  choose  officers  i  oo 

Giving  false  information,  or  refusing  to  give  names  of 

persons  liable  to  do  military  duty  20  oo 

Unmilitary  conduct  of  musicians,  not  more  than  twenty 

dollars  nor  less  than  10  oo 

Neglect  of  towns  in  providing  ammunition,  not  more 

than  five  hundred  dollars,  nor  less  than  20  oo 

Neglect  in  wearing  uniform  2  oo 

In  case  of  detachment,  and  orders  to  march,  for  re- 
lease, if  paid  in  twenty-four  hours  after,  50  oo 

The  enrolled  Militia  consists  of  persons  from  eighteen  to 
forty-five  years  of  age.  Annual  inspection,  first  Tuesday  in  May, 
when  the  rules  and  articles  are  to  be  publickly  read  to  the 
companies.  Each  captain  must  parade  his  company  on  three 
several  days  in  addition  to  the  annual  inspection. 

All  persons  between  the  age  of  forty  and  forty-five  are  exempted 
from  all  military  duty,  by  paying  annually  to  the  Town  Treasurer 
the  sum  of  two  dollars,  on  or  before  the  first  Tuesday  in  May, 
and  produce  his  receipt  to  the  commanding  officer  before  the 
first  Tuesday  in  May,  in  each  year. 

This  table  is  repeated  yearly  until  1829,  with  a  shift  in 
the  lower  limit  of  exemption  from  forty  to  thirty-five, 
according  to  the  law  of  1822.  After  1829  there  are  va- 
rious modifications,  as  the  statutes  changed.  In  1831  we 
find  this  significant  provision: — "Treating  with  ardent 
spirits  on  days  of  military  duty,  and  at  elections  of  officers 
is  prohibited;  and  Courts  Martial  may  punish  for  all 


ARMY   AND   NAVY  211 

offences  by  reprimand,  removal  from  office  and  fines  not 
exceeding  $200.  at  their  discretion."  This  was  at  the  time 
of  the  great  temperance  movement  in  New  England. 

One  of  the  offences  mentioned  in  the  table  of  fines  is 
"  Neglecting  to  meet  to  choose  officers,"  for  which  a  pen- 
alty of  one  dollar  is  imposed.  This  reminds  us  of  the 
most  distinguished  occasion  of  the  kind,  —  the  Artillery 
Election  of  the  Ancients  and  Honorables.  A  description 
of  the  ceremony,  with  a  respectful  tribute  to  the  Ancients 
themselves,  may  be  found  in  William  Tudor's  Letters  on 
the  Eastern  States,  published  in  1820:  — 

Among  the  public  institutions,  there  are  two  which  deserve  par- 
ticular notice.  The  first  is  a  military  company,  which  was  incorpo- 
rated in  the  commencement  of  the  colony,  to  form  a  school  for 
officers ;  —  but  religious  feelings  were  strongly  united  with  mili- 
tary ones  in  its  establishment.  It  now  contains  between  one  and 
two  hundred  members,  who  are,  or  have  been,  almost  every  one 
of  them,  officers,  either  in  the  regular  service  or  in  the  militia  ,•  — 
of  course,  among  the  privates,  are  generals,  colonels,  &c.  The 
original  intention  was,  that  this  should  be  a  school  for  military 
discipline  and  instruction,  —  and  that  they  should  keep  in  mind 
their  duty  to  religion,  so  as  to  form  a  corps  of  Christian  soldiers. 
For  this  purpose,  their  anniversary  is  publicly  celebrated,  —  the 
governor,  and  other  persons  in  civil  authority,  attending  it,  and 
going  in  procession  to  a  church,  where  an  appropriate  sermon 
is  preached  to  them  on  the  joint  duties  of  the  Christian  and  the 
soldier.  After  this  annual  sermon,  they  have  a  dinner  in  Faneuil 
Hall,  to  which  a  large  number  of  guests  are  invited ;  —  and  in 
the  afternoon,  the  company  escort  the  governor  to  the  Common, 
where  he  receives  the  insignia  of  the  officers  for  the  past  year,  and 
confers  them  on  those  who  have  been  elected  to  their  places.  A 
short  speech  is  made  on  giving  and  receiving  these  commissions. 
This  company  is  now  on  a  respectable  footing,  but  perhaps  more 
might  be  made  of  it.  Their  anniversary,  however,  affords  one  of 
the  prettiest  fetes  we  have.  It  is  called  the  Artillery  Election, 


212  THE   OLD    FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

and  takes  place  in  the  month  of  June,  —  and  on  this  occasion, 
eight  or  ten  thousand  people  are  collected,  to  see  the  ceremonies 
in  the  Common.  In  this,  as  in  many  other  cases,  the  spectators 
themselves  afford  the  most  pleasing  spectacle.1 

In  contrast  with  this  pleasing  spectacle  may  be  cited  the 
experiences  of  a  militia  captain  as  described  in  a  humorous 
anecdote,  credited  to  the  New  York  Constellation,  in  the 
Almanac  for  1833  :  — > 

A   MILITIA   CAPTAIN. 

A  captain  of  militia,  was  in  the  habit  of  swearing  '  by  forty} 
He  had,  like  many  other  officers  who  commanded  '  slab '  com- 
panies, a  troublesome  set  of  fellows  to  deal  with. 

One  training  day,  when  the  soldiers  behaved  as  usual,  very  dis- 
orderly, he  drew  his  sword,  and  furiously  brandishing  it  in  the  air, 
exclaimed  —  '  Fellow  sogers,  I  swear  by  forty,  if  you  don't  behave 

better  I  '11  put  every  d 1  of  you  under  'rest !  '  'I  wish  you 

would  give  us  a  little  rest]  said  half  a  dozen  voices,  '  for  we  're 
e^en  a-most  tired  to  death.' — 'Order!  order!  fellow  sogers,' 
roared  the  captain,  with  another  tremendous  flourish  of  his  sword. 
The  word  was  no  sooner  spoken,  than  they  all  come  to  order, 
bringing  down  the  breaches  of  their  guns  with  all  violence,  each 
upon  his  neighbor's  toes  —  which  threw  the  ranks  into  greater 
disorder  than  before.  '  Dress  !  dress  !  '  bawled  the  captain.  — 
'  We  are  dressed,  most  of  us,'  replied  a  fellow,  who  was  barefoot, 
and  had  on  a  rimless  hat.  — '  Now  by  forty,'  said  the  captain, 
'  that 's  one  tarnal  lie ;  you  aint  above  half  dressed,  if  that 's  what 
you  mean  —  but  I  mean  something  else  —  I  mean  you  sould 
dress  in  the  milintary  sense  of  the  word.'  '  How 's  that,  cap- 
tain ?  '  cried  half  a  dozen  voices.  — '  How  's  that !  you  fools 
you,'  exclaimed  the  captain,  '  by  forty,  have  you  been  so  long 
under  my  training,  and  don't  know  the  meaning  of  dress  ?  Form 
a  straight  line  !  I  say  —  form  a  straight  line  !  ' 

1  New  York,  1820,  Letter  XV,  pp.  310-11  ;  ad  ed.,  Boston,  1821,  pp.  368-9. 


ARMY  AND   NAVY  213 

The  soldiers  made  sundry  ineffectual  efforts  to  get  into  a  straight 
line,  and  the  captain  begun  to  despair  of  ever  straightening  them, 
when  his  military  genius,  suddenly  suggested  to  him  the  novel 
expedient  of  backing  his  men  up  against  a  fence,  which  fortu- 
nately happened  to  be  straight. 

'  Tention  !  fellow  sogers,'  said  he  in  a  stentorian  voice,  '  Ad- 
vance backwards  !  Music,  quick  step  !  '  The  soldiers  made  a 
quick  retrograde  movement,  and  come  with  their  backs  plump 
against  the  fence.  — '  There  !  by  forty,'  said  the  captain,  '  now 
see  if  you  can  keep  straight.'  But  he  had  scarcely  performed  this 
manoeuvre,  and  being  about  to  resume  the  manual  exercise,  when 
the  clouds  began  to  threaten  rain ;  the  soldiers  squinting  at  the 
aspect,  began  to  desert  their  ranks,  and  hasten  towards  a  neigh- 
boring tavern.  '  Halt  !  halt ! '  roared  the  captain  —  '  halt  !  I 
say  fellow  sogers  ;  where  the  d 1  are  you  going  to  ?  ' 

'  We  're  going  to  get  out  of  the  rain.'  '  Out  of  the  rain  !  you 
cowards  !  Halt  !  I  say,  or  I  '11  stick  the  first  man  I  can  catch.' 
'  I  '11  take  care  you  sha'nt  catch  me,'  shouted  each  one,  as  he 
took  to  his  heels.  In  less  than  a  minute,  the  whole  company  had 
deserted  ;  and  the  captain  had  little  chance  of  sticking  them,  for 
very  good  reason,  he  could  not  overtake  them. 

'  By  forty  ! '  said  he,  after  standing  speechless  for  a  minute  or 
two,  '  If  this  don't  beat  all,  just  as  I  had  got  them  into  a  straight 
line  by  a  new  manoeuvre  —  to  desert  me  thus  !  But  there  's  no  use 
in  keeping  the  field  all  alone  ;  I  may  as  well  go  to  the  tavern  too.' 
So  saying,  he  sheathed  his  sword,  and  followed  his  soldiers. 

The  following  inventory  of  the  United  States  Navy,  pub- 
lished in  the  Almanac  for  1814,  was  of  vital  interest  then, 
in  the  thick  of  the  War  of  1812,  and  will  not  be  read  with 
indifference  by  any  American  to-day:  — 

NAVY   OF   THE  UNITED   STATES. —JULY,  1813. 

Names                                Guns  Names                                Guns 

Constitution 44      Isaac  Hull 10 

United  States      ....     44      Conquest 8 

President 44      Hamilton 8 


214 


THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 


Names  Guns 

Macedonian 38 

Constellation 36 

Congress 36 

New-York 36 

Essex 32 

Adams 32 

Boston 32 

General  Pike 32 

Madison 28 

John  Adams 20 

Louisiana 20 

Alert 18 

Argus 1 8 

Hornet 18 

Oneida 18 

Troupe 18 

Revenge  * 1 6 

Syren 14 

Nonsuch 14 

Enterprize 14 

Carolina 14 

Comet* 14 

Duke  of  Gloucester  ...12 

President 12 

Petapsco  * 12 


Names  Guns 

Raven 8 

Scourge     8 

Governor  Tompkins     .     .       6 
Scorpion 6 


5 

4 

12 

3 
3 

2 


Growler 

Fair  American  . 
Viper  .... 
Lady  of  the  Lake 
Pert  .... 
Julia  .... 

Elizabeth 2 

Ontario i 

Adeline — 

Asp — 

Analoston — 

Despatch — 

Ferret — 

Neptune — 

Perseverance       ....     — 

-?Etna bomb 

Mary do. 

Spitfire do. 

Vengeance     ....       do. 
Vesuvius    .  do. 


Beside  the  above  there  are  a  number  of  Revenue  Cutters,  and 
about  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  Gun-Boats. 

Two  sloops  of  war  have  lately  been  launched  on  Lake  Erie. 

The  vessels  names  which  are  in  Italicks  have  been  captured 
from  the  British  since  the  commencement  of  the  present  war. 

Those  marked  thus  (*)  are  hired  by  the  United  States. 

The  brief  remark  that  "  two  sloops  of  war  have  lately 
been  launched  on  Lake  Erie "  reminds  us  that  Perry's 
Victory  was  won  about  two  months  after  the  date  of  this 
list,  on  September  loth,  1813.  The  vessels  referred  to  are 
probably  the  brigs  Lawrence  and  Niagara.  The  list  is  a 
little  too  early  to  include  Perry's  squadron ;  but  it  gives 


ARMY   AND   NAVY  215 

the  names  of  some  of  the  most  famous  vessels  that  ever 
belonged  to  our  navy.  The  Essex  and  the  Alert  both 
appear,  —  the  latter  as  captured  from  the  enemy.  She 
was,  in  fact,  the  first  British  national  vessel  to  be  taken 
in  the  war,  and  the  Essex,  under  Porter,  was  her  captor. 
The  name  Hornet  reminds  us  of  the  great  fight  between 
the  Hornet  and  the  Peacock  (February  24,  1813),  for 
which  Lawrence  received  a  medal  from  Congress.  The 
United  States,  Decatur's  ship,  and  her  prize  the  Macedonian 
both  appear  in- the  inventory.  The  frigate  President,  whose 
fight  with  the  Little  Belt,  preceded  the  outbreak  of  the 
war,  was  soon  to  distinguish  herself  by  a  clever  piece  of 
blockade-running.  The  exploits  of  the  Constitution  are 
too  well-known  to  need  repetition. 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER 

IN  1834  Miss  Harriet  Martineau  came  to  America  in 
search  of  mental  refreshment  and  change  of  scene. 
She  spent  a  couple  of  years  in  this  country  and  has  left  a 
record  of  her  experiences  and  impressions  in  two  books 
which  have  won  a  respectable  place  in  the  great  class 
of  miscellaneous  literature,  —  Society  in  America,  and 
Retrospect  of  Western  Travel, — besides  the  minute  ac- 
count of  her  connection  with  the  anti-slavery  ^movement 
which  she  gives  in  her  Autobiography.  With  the  mass 
of  these  writings  we  have  at  this  moment  no  particular 
concern,  but  one  incident  must  not  pass  without  notice. 
In  an  idle  hour,  —  or  let  us  say  rather  in  a  moment  of 
peculiar  inspiration,  —  Miss  Martineau  had  recourse  to  a 
certain  "  old  almanack,"  where  she  discovered  something 
to  point  an  excellent  moral.  Here  is  her  account  of  the 
discovery  :  — 

All  young  people  in  these  [New  England]  villages  are  more  or 
less  instructed.  Schooling  is  considered  a  necessary  of  life.  I 
happened  to  be  looking  over  an  old  almanack  one  day,  when  I 
found,  among  the  directions  relating  to  the  preparations  for  winter 
on  a  farm,  the  following  :  "  Secure  your  cellars  from  frost.  Fasten 
loose  clap-boards  and  shingles.  Secure  a  good  school-master." 
It  seemed  doubtful,  at  the  first  glance,  whether  some  new  farming 
utensil  had  not  been  thus  whimsically  named ;  as  the  brass  plate 
which  hooks  upon  the  fender,  or  upper  bar  of  the  grate,  is  called 
"  the  footman " ;  but  the  context  clearly  showed  that  a  man 
with  learning  in  his  head  was  the  article  required  to  be  provided 
before  the  winter.1 

1  Society  in  America,  London,  1837,  I,  264. 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER 

It  must  be  admitted,  even  by  Miss  Martineau's  warmest 
admirers,  that  she  did  not  always  comprehend  the  Ameri- 
can character.  Indeed,  she  had  the  good  sense  not  to 
suppose  that  she  could  comprehend  it.  Just  before  she 
sailed  for  the  United  States,  James  Mill  asked  her,  quizzi- 
cally, whether  she  "expected  to  understand  the  Ameri- 
cans "  in  two  years.  "  He  was  glad  to  find,"  writes  Miss 
Martineau,  "  that  I  had  no  such  idea,  and  told  me  that 
five-and-twenty  years  before,  he  had  believed  that  he  under- 
stood the  Scotch :  and  that  in  another  five-and-twenty,  he 
should  no  doubt  understand  the  English ;  but  that  now  he 
was  quite  certain  that  he  understood  neither  the  one  nor 
the  other."  l  It  was  hardly  this  warning  that  sent  Miss 
Martineau  to  the  old  almanac,  but  rather  her  own  sagacity, 
or  perhaps  a  happy  accident.  At  all  events,  she  lighted 
upon  a  highly  characteristic  passage,  and  it  is  to  her  credit 
that  she  did  not  fail  to  perceive  what  it  signifies,  —  that  to 
procure  a  schoolmaster  is  as  much  a  matter  of  course  to 
a  Yankee  farmer  as  any  other  provision  for  the  winter 
season.  To  his  mind  there  is  nothing  incongruous  between 
attention  to  loose  shingles  and  solicitude  for  primary 
education. 

It  does  not  appear  what  almanac  Miss  Martineau  con- 
sulted. Very  possibly  it  was  that  of  Mr.  R.  B.  Thomas. 
The  precise  passage,  to  be  sure,  has  not  been  discovered  in 
the  sayings  of  the  Old  Farmer;  but  she  may  have  been 
quoting  from  memory,  and  the  form  and  the  sentiment 
both  suggest  the  admonitions  of  the  Farmer's  Calendar. 
That  column  contains,  along  with  its  precepts  of  practical 
agriculture,  much  exhortation  on  the  subject  of  schools  and 
schoolmasters.  Some  of  the  entries  are  characteristic 
enough  to  deserve  reproduction.  Besides,  they  are  not 
without  value  as  bits  of  country  life  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

1  Autobiography,  Boston,  1877,  I,  329. 


218       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

A  passage  which  comes  very  near  to  Miss  Martineau's 
quotation  occurs  in  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  November, 
1 804 :  — 

Now  let  the  noise  of  your  flail  awake  your  drowsy  neighbours. 
Bank  up  your  cellars. 

Now  hire  a  good  schoolmaster,  and  send  your  children  to 
school  as  much  as  possible. 

In  November,  1810,  there  is  also  a  near  approach  to 
what  Miss  Martineau  read  :  — 

Bank  your  cellars  unless  your  underpinning  is  such  as  renders 
it  unneedful.  Drive  all  your  loose  nails ;  and  if  the  boys  have 
broken  any  glass  during  the  summer  in  the  windows,  you  find  it 
more  comfortable  to  have  the  hole  stopped  up,  than  to  let  it  go 
over  winter.  Send  your  children  to  school.  Every  boy  should 
have  a  chance  to  prepare  himself  to  do  common  town  business. 

In  December,  1801,  we  have  a  good  piece  of  proverbial 
philosophy:  — 

"  A  cheap  school-master  makes  a  dear  school"  says  Common 
Sense.  As  this  is  the  season  for  opening  schools  in  the  country, 
the  above  adage  may  be  worthy  of  attention.  Experience 
teaches,  that  the  master,  who  will  keep  for  8  dollars  per  month,  is 
not  worth  the  keeping :  yet  some  towns,  to  save  2  dollars,  give 
away  10. 

Again,  in  December,  1803  and  1805  :  - 

It  is  hoped  that  every  town  and  village  is  now  supplied  with  a 
wise  and  virtuous  school-master ;  not  ten  dollar  men  —  such  pitiful 
pedants  are  too  plenty.  (1803.) 

Attend  to  your  schools.  Hire  not  what  neighbor  Simpkins 
calls  a  four  dollar  master  to  instruct  your  children  ;  it  will  be 
throwing  away  money.  He  who  deprives  his  children  of  education, 
at  once  robs  himself  and  society.  (1805.) 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER  219 

But  the  liveliest  passage  of  the  kind  is  in  the  Calendar 
for  November,  1820,  where  we  have  not  only  a  full  account 
of  the  acquirements  of  a  five-dollar  master,  but  also  an 
eloquent  speech  from  one  of  the  advocates  of  ill-judged 
economy:  — 

This  is  the  last  month  of  Autumn,  and  it  is  now  the  business 
of  the  prudent  man  to  be  making  his  calculations  about  winter 
matters.  I  have  often  mentioned  the  importance  of  schooling  to 
the  rising  generation.  Few,  if  any  countries,  are  blest  like  New- 
England,  with  public  school  establishments.  No  stinginess  about 
the  business.  See  that  you  have  an  able  master,  and  pay  him 
well.  Here  my  neighbour  Hugpurse  and  I  can  never  agree  ;  for 
he  says,  "  So  much  of  this  here  larnin  is  altogether  useless  and 
expensive.  There  is  Joe  Simple  is  good  enough  for  our  school. 
He  has  cyphered  through  compound  interest,  and  that 's  fur 
enough  for  any  man.  He  knows  nothing  about  Jogrify  and 
Grammar  and  such  stuff;  but  he  can  write  as  good  a  hand  as  I 
can  ;  and  as  for  reading,  he  is  far  better  than  Squire  Puff.  In 
spelling  they  say  he  is  curious.  I  have  often  heard  that  when  a 
boy  he  could  spell  Nebuchadnezzar  quicker  than  any  one  in 
school.  I  move,  Mr.  cheersman,  that  we  hire  Joe  Simple  to  keep 
our  school  this  winter.  Give  him  five  dollars  a  month  and  board 
himself,  which  is  all  he  axes." 

Mr.  Thomas  knew  what  he  was  talking  about.  He  had 
been  a  country  pedagogue  himself;  and,  though  he  did 
not  fall  in  love  with  the  profession  —  in  fact,  he  tells  that 
he  grew  heartily  tired  of  it  —  he  had  always  been  success- 
ful in  his  schoolmastering.1  He  felt  a  proper  contempt 
for  the  shortsighted  stinginess  of  ignorant  committeemen, 
and  cherished  no  illusions  as  to  the  quality  of  the  cheap 
pretenders  to  learning  whose  services  they  secured  for 
little  or  nothing.  He  must  have  known  many  Ichabod 
Cranes  and  Joe  Simples  in  his  day.  But  schoolmasters 

1  See  p.  6,  above. 


220         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

like  Joe  Simple  were  not  the  only  pretenders  whom  Mr. 
Thomas  satirized.  He  was  equally  severe  on  those  who 
aped  the  follies  of  fine  gentlemen.  Thus  in  December, 
1815,  we  read:  — 

It  is  all  important  now  that  you  send  your  children  to  school ; 
but  take  care  that  you  have  a  good  instructor  for  them.  It  is 
not  everyone  who  apes  the  gentleman  that  is  fit  for  this  under- 
taking. To  strut  in  white  top  boots,  brandish  a  canee,  drink 
brandy,  and  smoke  segars,  are  not  the  most  essential  qualifications 
for  a  schoolmaster.  It  is  a  serious  misfortune  that  in  many  parts 
our  country  schools  are  exceedingly  neglected ;  and  it  would 
seem  that  were  it  not  for  the  law's  obliging  them  to  have  at  least 
the  appearance  of  schools,  there  would  be  no  provision  at  all  for 
this  purpose  made  for  years  !  What  better  estate  can  you  give 
your  offspring  than  a  good  education  ?  I  would  not  urge  you  to 
send  them  to  college  —  neither  to  an  academy;  but  see  that  you 
have  the  best  of  teachers  in  your  town  schools ;  be  not  stingy 
about  the  price  —  let  not  your  children  suffer  for  shoes  and  other 
clothing  to  make  them  comfortable  and  decent  —  Town  schools 
are  of  the  first  importance,  for  here  and  in  the  family  at  home  is 
laid  the  foundation  of  the  future  man,  whether  he  be  great,  or 
mean,  an  honest  man,  or  a  scoundrel. 

Top-boots  and  cigar-smoking  seem  to  have  gone  to- 
gether. Robert  SutclirT,  the  English  Quaker,  who  travelled 
in  America  from  1804  to  1806,  shared  Mr.  Thomas's 
suspicion  of  both  articles.  "  I  have  remarked,"  he  writes, 
"  that  some  people  in  America  have  a  great  predilection 
for  wearing  boots,  and  for  smoking  segars.  Even  children 
of  five  or  six  years  of  age,  are  sometimes  seen,  in  their 
boots  smoking  segars." l  Most  of  Mr.  Thomas's  early 
readers,  if  they  smoked  at  all,  doubtless  smoked  pipes, 
for  the  cigar  (or  segar,  as  there  was  a  tendency  to  spell  the 
word  about  this  time)  was  not  only  citified,  but  was  re- 

1  Travels  in  some  Parts  of  North  America,  in  the  years  1804,  1805,  and 
1806,  2d  ed.,  York,  1815,  p.  103. 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER  221 

garded  as  indicative  of  riotous  living.  Perhaps,  therefore 
the  following  entry,  honestly  meant  as  it  certainly  was, 
suggested  no  roguish  thoughts  to  the  contemporary  agri- 
culturist. To  the  modern  smoker  it  has  a  sinister  sound. 
It  occurs  in  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  June  12,  1796:  — 

Set  cabbages  and  tobacco. 

And,  as  if  a  word  to  the  wise  were  not  always  sufficient 
in  tricks  of  the  trade,  we  have,  a  year  later,  in  June,  1797, 
an  additional  injunction:  - 

Set  more  cabbages  and  tobacco. 

The  word  more  has  some  significance.  It  involves  a 
pleasant  suggestion  of  the  "  constant  reader,"  the  "  old 
subscriber."  In  consulting  the  Calendar  for  June  of  one 
year,  the  farmer  who  is  faithful  to  the  admonitions  of  the 
Almanac  will  surely  remember  what  he  did,  or  shunned, 
the  year  before.  "  More  cabbages  and  tobacco,"  then, 
must  not  be  taken  as  the  helpless  reiteration  of  an  almanac- 
writer  at  his  wit's  end.  It  implies,  rather,  that  the  author 
believes  in  himself  and  has  reason  to  think  that  his  public 
has  confidence  in  him.  "  You  planted  cabbages  and 
tobacco  last  year,  no  doubt,  as  I  advised.  Very  well ! 
Plant  some  more  now.  You  see  my  counsel  was  good." 

A  lesson  for  parents,  as  apposite  now  as  it  ever  was, 
may  be  found  in  the  December  Calendar  for  1807.  Here 
also  Mr.  Thomas  was  speaking  from  experience :  - 

Let  your  children  go  to  school  as  much  as  possible ;  and  do  not 
interfere  with  the  orders  and  regulations  of  the  master.  When 
your  little  darling  Jemmy  is  whipt  at  school  it  is  a  miserable  way  to 
give  him  gingerbread,  and  call  the  master  puppy,  rascal,  &c.  &c. 

And  again,  in  February,  1809:  — 

Keep  the  boys  at  school  as  much  as  possible,  and  take  care 
not  to  rail  against  the  master  in  their  presence.  Some  people 


222 

are  eternally  complaining   about  the  schoolmaster  or  mistress. 
Let  the  school  be  never  so  well  kept,  they  will  be  dissatisfied. 

Another  kind  of  admonition,  in  the  Calendar  for  Decem- 
ber, 1 8 12,  sounds  strange  to  modern  ears:  — 

Now  you  have  an  opportunity  for  schooling  your  children; 
and  what  can  you  give  them  to  more  profit?  Riches  and  honors 
will  fly  away,  but  a  good  education,  with  habitual  improvement, 
will  abide  by  them,  and  be  a  source  of  pleasure  and  profit,  when 
business  and  money,  and  friends  fail  them.  But  do  not  let  them 
be  prevented  from  going  to  school  for  want  of  shoes,  &c.  They 
should  have  been  well  shod  before  this  time. 

This  observation  about  staying  at  home  for  lack  of  shoes 
recalls  the  fact  that  going  barefoot  was  far  commoner  a 
hundred  (or  even  thirty)  years  ago  than  it  is  to-day. 
"  Old  enough  to  go  to  meeting  barefooted  "  is  a  Yankee 
proverb  not  yet  forgotten,  though  not,  of  course,  to  be 
taken  seriously.  An  old  New  Englander  who,  in  1837, 
wrote  reminiscences  of  his  youth  for  the  Old  Colony 
Memorial,  is  very  clear  on  this  matter.  He  is  speaking 
of  ordinary  attire  in  the  country  districts.  "  Old  men," 
he  says,  "  had  a  great  coat  and  a  pair  of  boots.  The  boots 
generally  lasted  for  life  .  .  .  Shoes  and  stockings  were  not 
worn  by  the  young  men,  and  by  but  few  men  in  farming 
business."  As  for  the  young  women,  he  informs  us  that 
in  the  summer,  when  engaged  in  their  ordinary  work,  they 
"  did  not  wear  stockings  and  shoes."  1 

We  may  close  our  series  of  extracts  with  two  eloquent 
utterances  of  a  generally  admonitory  character:  - 

Let  your  children  go  to  school.  No  country  in  the  world  is  so 
blest  with  schooling  as  New- England ;  then  neglect  not  to  im- 
prove this  excellent  advantage.  (December,  1806.) 

1  Collections  of  the  New-Hampshire  Historical  Society,  1837,  V,  226-7. 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER  223 

It  is  a  duty  to  educate  our  children  in  the  ways  of  frugality  and 
economy,  as  well  as  industry.  In  some  it  is  owing  to  inattention, 
in  others  to  parsimony  that  their  children  are  kept  from  school. 
The  heedless  man  who  can  just  write  his  name  and  pick  out  a 
chapter  or  two  in  his  bible  and  perhaps  find  the  changes  of  the 
moon  in  his  almanack,  thinks  that  his  children  and  his  children's 
children  are  to  go  on  in  the  same  way  with  himself,  and  so  is 
regardless  of  their  education ;  but  the  penurious  man,  if  it  cost  a 
cent,  will  see  them  hanged  before  they  shall  be  taught  to  spell 
Caleb.  (March,  1813.) 

A  generation  ago  there  was  a  stock  question  which  used 
to  be  asked  of  school  children :  "  What  is  the  chief  glory 
of  New  England?  "  And  the  reply  was  a  matter  of  clock- 
work :  "  The  chief  glory  of  New  England  is  in  her  public 
schools."  The  children  had  their  doubts,  but  they  an- 
swered dutifully.  This  kind  of  catechising  is  out  of  fash- 
ion now,  and  the  mere  thought  of  it  provokes  a  smile 
among  educational  theorists ;  but  it  had  its  uses.  In  the 
case  in  hand,  it  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  schools  do 
not  spring  up  of  themselves;  and  it  may  now  and  then 
have  reminded  the  rising  generation  of  certain  items  of 
indebtedness  to  the  Puritan  past.  This  whole  subject  of 
New  England  schooling  is  not  easy  to  discuss  without  los- 
ing one's  equilibrium.  On  the  one  hand,  we  are  habituated 
to  a  good  deal  of  undiscriminating  eulogy  of  our  ancestors, 
as  if  they  never  faltered  in  their  zeal  for  education.  On 
the  other,  there  are  the  iconoclasts,  who  make  much  of  the 
difficulty  there  was  in  enforcing  the  school  laws.1  There  is 
evidence  of  such  difficulty.  A  Massachusetts  Act  of  1701 
declares  that  the  previous  statute  "  is  shamefully  neglected 
by  divers  Towns."  In  an  Election  Sermon  for  1709  the 

1  The  Massachusetts  laws  which  particularly  concern  us  are  those  of 
1647  (Mass.  Colony  Records,  II,  203),  1692  (4  \Vm.  and  Mary,  ch.  xi), 
1701  (13  Wm.  Ill,  ch.  xx),  1789  (Acts,  ch.  xix),  and  1824  (Acts,  ch.  cxi, 
amending  the  Act  of  1789). 


224      THE  °LD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Rev.  Grindal  Rawson,  of  Mendon,  exclaims :  "  How  little 
care  is  there  generally  taken,  especially  in  Country  Towns, 
to  promote  the  Liberal  Education  of  Children?  How 
much  is  it  become  the  Practice  of  many  Towns,  to  Study 
Tricks  and  Shifts  whereby  the  Law  of  the  Land  obliging  to 
the  upholding  and  maintaining  of  Schools,  may  be  wholly 
evaded  and  lose  its  Efficacy?  And  is  not  this  Provoking 
to  God,  and  disserviceable  to  the  interest  of  Posterity?"1 
In  1713  Cotton  Mather,  in  one  of  his  innumerable  jere- 
miads,—  called  Advice  from  the  Watch  Tower,  in  a  Testi- 
mony against  Evil  Customs,  —  censures  the  evasion  of 
this  law: — "To  Elude  the  Law  about  Schools,  is  too 
Customary.  It  argues,  that  a  due  sense  of  that  Grand 
Concern,  the  Education  of  Children,  is  too  much  laid 
aside  among  us.  —  Tis  Wonderful!  Tis  Wonderful!  That 
a  People  of  our  Profession  would  seem  so  unconcerned, 
Lest  the  next  Generation  be  miserably  Uncultivated,  and 
have  hideous  Barbarity  grow  upon  it !  " 

All  this,  however,  should  not  mislead  us.  The  facts  are 
clear  enough,  and  the  anxiety  of  the  preachers  is  really  a 
favorable  symptom.  The  significant  thing  is  not  that  the 
laws  were  not  always  obeyed,  but  that  the  colonial  and  pro- 
vincial authorities  made  an  honest  attempt  to  enforce  them, 
and  that  the  outcome  of  their  efforts  was,  when  time  was 
ripe,  a  public  school  system  which,  though  not  perfect,  is 
at  all  events  a  remarkable  achievement.  We  should  regard 
the  general  tendency  and  the  final  results.  We  have  a 
good  many  diaries  kept  by  soldiers  in  the  Revolutionary 
War.  Most  of  these  *are  rudely  spelled  and  not  very  exact 
in  point  of  grammar.  They  show  that  the  rank  and  file 
were  not  highly  educated,  and  they  have  often  been  cited 
as  proof  that  the  schools  and  schoolmasters  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  were  poor  things.  What  they  really  prove, 

1  The  Necessity  of  a  Speedy  and  Thorough  Reformation,  Boston,  1709, 
p.  36. 


Advice  from  the  Watch  Tower. 


In  a  TESTIMONY  againft 

EVIL    CUSTOMES. 

A  brief    ESSAY 
To  declare  the  Danger  &  Mifchief  of  zl\ 

Evil  Cuftomes, 

in  general  j 

Arid  Offer  a  more  .particular  CATA- 
LOGUE of  EVIL  CUSTOMES  grow- 
ing upon  us  i 

With  certain  METHODS  for  the  Pre- 
vention and  Suppreffion  of  them. 


Hab.  II.  I.  Imillflwd  upon  my  Watch,  and 
Cet  me  upon  tk'e  Totter,  and  will  rpatch  to 
fee  what  JJhall  anfoer  upon  my  Reproof, 

Luk.  XXI.  13. 
It  fljatt  turn  to  you  for  a  TESTIMONY, 

Vtwnt  Confuetudinem,  dura,  tft  fugna,     Auguft, 

taU  Cuty*  MiZitt  me,Rtem> 
ad  Retfitudinem. 


tudinem, 


Boflat.  Printed  ty  J.  Alltn,  tor  N*  Boone, 
at  the  Sign  of  the  Bible  in  Cornhll.  1713. 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER  225 

however,  is  that  almost  every  New  Englander  could  read 
and  write,  and  this,  after  all,  is  a  pretty  creditable  showing. 
When  John  Adams  was  in  England  in  1786,  he  fell  in  with 
a  Virginian,  Major  Langbourne,  who  had  "taken  the  whim 
of  walking  all  over  Europe,  after  having  walked  over 
most  of  America."  The  Major  lamented  "  the  difference 
of  character  between  Virginia  and  New  England."  "  I 
offered,"  writes  Adams,  "  to  give  him  a  receipt  for  mak- 
ing a  New  England  in  Virginia.  He  desired  it;  and  I 
recommended  to  him  town  meetings,  training  days,  town 
schools,  and  ministers,  giving  him  a  short  explanation  of 
each  article.  The  meeting-house  and  school-house  and 
training  field  are  the  scenes  where  New  England  men  were 
formed.  Colonel  Trumbull,  who  was  present,  agreed  that 
these  are  the  ingredients.  In  all  countries  and  in  all  com- 
panies, for  several  years,  I  have,  in  conversation  and  in 
writing,  enumerated  the  towns,  militia,  schools,  and 
churches,  as  the  four  causes  of  the  growth  and  defence 
of  New  England.  The  virtues  and  talents  of  the  people 
are  there  formed ;  their  temperance,  patience,  fortitude, 
prudence,  and  justice,  as  well  as  their  sagacity,  knowledge, 
judgment,  taste,  skill,  ingenuity,  dexterity,  and  industry."  1 
Here  is  an  uncommonly  interesting  bit  of  autobiography 
from  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  writer, 
Rufus  Putnam,  was  an  officer  of  distinction,  whom  Wash- 
ington pronounced  the  best  engineer  on  the  American 
side  in  the  Revolution.  No  one  can  doubt  that  the  New 
England  spirit  finds  a  truer  expression  in  the  boy's  strug- 
gles to  learn  something  than  in  the  nonchalance  of  his 
guardians. 

In  Sep1  1747,  I  went  to  live  with  my  Step  Father,  Capt  John 
Sadler  (at  Upton)  and  continued  with  him  untill  his  death  (in 
September  or  October  1753) 

1  Diary,  July  21,  1786,  Works,  ed.  C.  F.  Adams,  III,  400. 


226         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

during  the  six  year  I  lived  with  Cap1  Sadler,  I  never  Saw  the 
inside  of  a  School  house,  except  about  three  weeks,  he  was 
very  illiterate  himself,  and  took  no  care  for  the  education  of  his 
family;  but  this  was  not  all  I  was  made  a  ridecule  of,  and 
otherwise  abused  for  my  attention  to  books,  and  attempting  to 
write,  and  learn  Arethmatic,  however,  amidst  all  those  dis- 
couragements I  made  Some  advances  in  writeing  and  Arethmatic, 
that  is  I  could  make  Letters  that  could  be  under  stood,  and  had 
gon  as  far  in  Arethmatic  as  to  work  the  rule  of  three  (without  any 
teacher  but  the  book)  —  Oh  !  my  Children  beware  you  neglect 
not  the  education  of  any  under  your  care  as  I  was  neglected. — 

In  March  1754  I  was  bound  apprentice  to  Daniel  Mathews  of 
Brokfield,  to  the  Millw[r]ights  trade ;  by  him  my  education  was  as 
much  neglected,  as  by  Capt  Sadler,  except  that  he  did  not  deny 
me  the  use  of  a  Light  for  Study  in  the  winter  evenings  — 

I  turned  my  attention  chiefly  to  Arethmatic,  Geography,  and 
history ;  had  I  ben  as  much  engaged  in  Learning  to  write  well, 
with  Spelling,  and  Gramer,  I  might  have  ben  much  better  quali- 
fied to  fulfill  the  duties  of  the  Succeeding  Scenes  of  Life,  which  In 
providence  I  have  ben  called  to  pass  through.  I  was  zealous  to 
obtain  knowledge,  but  having  no  guide  I  knew  not  where  to  begin 
nor  what  course  to  pursue, —  hence  neglecting  Spelling  and 
gramer  when  young  I  have  Suffered  much  through  life  on  that 
account.1 

The  Constitution  of  Massachusetts,  adopted  in  1781,  laid 
special  emphasis  on  the  duty  of  the  Commonwealth  with 
regard  to  education.  In  the  same  year  the  legislature 
passed  an  elaborate  law  providing  for  both  elementary 
and  grammar  schools.2  By  grammar  schools,  we  should 
remember,  was  always  meant  what  we  now  call  Latin  or 
High  schools.  If  we  compare  this  act  of  1789  with  the 
original  law  of  1647,  we  shall  find  that  it  is  less  exacting. 

1  Memoirs  of  Rufus  Putnam,  ed.  by  Miss  Rowena  Buell,  Boston,  1903, 
pp.  9-1 1. 

2  Acts  of  1789,  ch.  xix. 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER  22/ 

Instead  of  requiring  a  grammar  school  in  every  town  of 
one  hundred  families,  it  raises  the  limit  to  two  hundred. 
This  change  is  estimated  to  have  released  one  hundred 
and  twenty  towns  from  an  obligation  under  which  they  had 
lain  for  many  years.1  Doubtless,  however,  it  was  as  rigor- 
ous a  rule  as  the  country  could  bear.  What  had  seemed 
possible  in  the  compact  and  homogeneous  Colony  was  no 
longer  practicable  in  the  growing  State. 

This  act  of  1789  brings  us  down  to  the  time  of  the 
Farmer's  Almanack.  It  defines  the  conditions  which  Mr. 
Thomas  had  in  mind  in  his  constant  exhortations.2  In  the 
lower  schools  the  master  was  "  to  teach  children  to  read 
and  write,  and  to  instruct  them  in  the  English  language, 
as  well  as  in  arithmetic,  orthography,  and  decent  be- 
haviour." The  higher  schools  were  to  be  provided  with 
"  a  grammar  schoolmaster  of  good  morals,  well  instructed 
in  the  Latin,  Greek  and  English  languages." 

An  idea  of  the  impression  which  the  schools  of  New 
England  made  upon  a  highly  cultivated  and  philosophical 
foreigner  may  be  got  from  a  passage  in  Rochefoucault's 
Travels  in  North  America.  The  distinguished  French- 
man, who  belonged  to  the  school  of  Arthur  Young,  is 
speaking  of  Connecticut  in  1795:  — 

There  is  ...  no  instance  of  a  town  or  parish,  remaining, 
negligently,  without  a  school.  Many  communities  maintain  their 
schools  for  a  greater  part  of  the  year,  than  they  are,  by  law, 
obliged  to  do.  The  select-men  and  the  deputations  from  the 
communities  manage  the  farms  and  other  revenues  of  the  schools. 

The  teachers  are  commonly  young  men  from  the  colleges, 
students  of  law  or  theology.  Their  salaries  are  at  the  pleasure  of 
the  different  parishes,  from  two  to  three  hundred  dollars.  Al- 

1  G.  H.  Martin,  The   Evolution   of  the    Massachusetts    Public    School 
System,  New  York,  1894,  lecture  iii. 

2  There  was  no  further  law  until  1824  :  Acts  of  1824,  ch.  cxi  (amending 
the  act  of  1789). 


228  THE   OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

most  all  those  who  now  act  a  distinguished  part  in  the  political 
business  of  New  England,  began  their  career  as  teachers  in  these 
schools ;  a  situation  that  is  accounted  exceedingly  honourable. 
Sometimes,  where  the  salary  is  small,  women  are  chosen  to  be 
the  teachers.  Even  these  must,  in  this  case,  be  well  qualified  to 
teach  reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic. 

Every  county  must  have  a  school  for  Greek  and  Latin.  A  fine 
of  three  dollars  is  exacted  from  parents  neglecting  to  send  their 
children  to  school.  The  select-men  have  authority  to  levy  it.1 

No  account  of  our  schools,  however  brief  and  inci- 
dental, can  ignore  the  Academy,  —  that  peculiarly  New 
England  institution  which  has  played  so  important  a  part 
in  the  social  and  educational  life  of  America.  The  smaller 
towns  had  found  it  impossible  to  support  classical  schools ; 
but  there  was  no  actual  falling-off  in  the  zeal  for  educa- 
tion. Academies  were  founded,  partly  by  bequests  from 
public-spirited  citizens,  partly  by  voluntary  contributions 
from  subscribers.  These  multiplied  exceedingly  in  the  late 
eighteenth  and  the  early  nineteenth  century,  and  many 
of  them  were  subsidized  by  the  States.  Most  of  them 
have  gone  out  of  existence,  becoming  unnecessary  as 
wealth  increased  and  the  towns  were  able  once  more  to 
assume  the  duty  of  maintaining  high  schools.  But  the 
stronger  institutions  of  the  kind,  which  are  also  among 
the  oldest,  have  survived  and  flourished.  They  are  a  dis- 
tinctive feature  of  the  educational  system  of  the  whole 
United  States.  Their  importance  is  no  longer  merely 
local ;  it  is  national. 

Mr.  Thomas  makes  an  amusing  remark  about  academies 
in  the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  December,  1808:  — 

Now  let  your  boys  and  girls  attend  school.  Send  them  to  the 
common  town  school,  rather  than  to  an  academy.  Fun,  frolick, 

1  Travels  through  the  United  States  of  North  America,  English  transla- 
tion, London,  1799,  I,  530. 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER  229 

and  filigree  are  too  much  practised  at  the  academies  for  the 
benefit  of  a  farmer's  boy.  Let  them  have  a  solid  and  useful 
education. 

This  should  not  be  misunderstood.  It  is  not  an  assault 
on  the  academy  as  an  institution.  It  is  merely  a  caution 
against  sending  a  boy  to  an  inappropriate  school.  Acade- 
mies, in  Mr.  Thomas's  opinion,  were  not  meant  for  those 
who  were  to  spend  their  lives  on  the  farm.  He  was  no 
enemy  to  ambition,  but  he  wished  to  see  it  intelligently 
guided. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  Mr.  Thomas  mentions  girls  as 
well  as  boys  in  this  last  exhortation.  The  education  of 
girls  was  neglected  in  the  early  days.  In  1782  the  Rev. 
John  Eliot  wrote  from  Boston  to  Jeremy  Belknap,  then 
minister  at  Dover,  New  Hampshire:  — 

We  don't  pretend  to  teach  ye  female  part  of  ye  town  any- 
thing more  than  dancing,  or  a  little  music  perhaps,  (and  these 
accomplishm'.  must  necessarily  be  confined  to  a  very  few,)  except 
ye  private  schools  for  writing,  which  enables  them  to  write  a  copy, 
sign  their  name,  &c.,  which  they  might  not  be  able  to  do  without 
such  a  priviledge,  &  with  it  I  will  venture  to  say  that  a  lady  is  a 
rarity  among  us  who  can  write  a  page  of  commonplace  sentiment, 
the  words  being  well  spelt,  &  ye  style  &  language  kept  up  with 
purity  &  elegance.1 

Two  years  later  Caleb  Bingham  opened  a  private  school 
for  girls,  commonly  said  to  have  been  the  first  girls'  school 
ever  known  in  Boston.  The  letter  just  quoted  shows  that 
this  idea  is  not  strictly  correct.  Yet  Bingham's  establish- 
ment was  so  far  in  advance  of  the  mere  writing  classes 
which  Mr.  Eliot  mentions  that  it  deserves  its  reputation. 
"  He  taught  not  only  writing  and  arithmetic,  but  reading, 
spelling,  and  English  grammar,"  thus  meeting  precisely 

1  Feb.  i,  1782.     Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  6th  Series,  IV,  223. 


230  THE   OLD   FARMERS   ALMANACK 

the  needs  which  Mr.  Eliot  refers  to.  Bingham's  successful 
experiment  soon  led  the  town  to  make  some  provision  for 
the  education  of  girls.  This  was  in  1789,  and  Bingham 
was  employed  in  one  of  these  new  public  schools.  He 
was  the  author  of  several  text-books  which  rivalled  those 
of  Noah  Webster  in  popularity.  His  American  Preceptor, 
published  in  1794,  had  by  1832  sold  to  the  number  of 
nearly  six  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  copies,  and  his 
Columbian  Orator,  published  in  1797,  to  the  number  of 
more  than  two  hundred  thousand.  He  also  prepared,  for 
his  private  school,  a  little  English  Grammar,  The  Young 
Lady's  Accidence,  of  which  a  hundred  thousand  copies 
were  sold  by  1832.  It  was  the  first  English  grammar  used 
in  the  schools  of  Boston.1  Several  other  private  schools 
for  girls  were  established  toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  In  1784  Dr.  Jedediah  Morse,  the  well-known 
geographer,  opened  such  a  school  at  New  Haven,  and  in 
1790  a  Mr.  Woodbridge,  who  gave  himself  the  grandil- 
oquent title  of  "  the  Columbus  of  female  education," 
followed  his  example.  Three  years  before,  the  Moravian 
brethren  had  founded  a  "  female  seminary  "  at  Bethlehem, 
Pennsylvania.  The  opposition  to  any  kind  of  higher 
education  for  women  is  amusingly  illustrated  by  the  ex- 
perience of  Miss  Emma  Willard,  who  opened  a  seminary 
for  girls  at  Troy,  New  York,  in  1821.  She  had  previously 
conducted  what  she  called  a  "  female  academy  "  at  Water- 
ford,  in  the  same  state.  A  friendly  minister,  who  felt  it 
his  duty  to  mention  this  institution  in  his  public  prayers, 
styled  it  a  "  seminary,"  not  wishing  to  offend  his  hearers 
by  speaking  of  it  as  an  "  academy  "  or  a  "  college."  Brad- 
ford Academy,  in  Massachusetts,  which  still  flourishes,  was 
founded  in  1803.2 

1  See  G.  E.  Littlefield,  Early  Schools  and  School-Books  of  New  England, 
1904,  pp.  156,  158,  229-30. 

2  See  a  paper  on  The  Early  History  of  Schools  and  School-Books,  by 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER  23  I 

But  chronology  is  dull  work.  Let  us  revert  to  anecdote, 
and,  in  so  doing,  to  the  old-fashioned  grammar  school. 
The  Rev.  John  Barnard  of  Marblehead  (who  was  born  at 
Boston  in  1681),  after  attending  the  instruction  of  a  school- 
mistress in  the  town  and  another  in  the  country,  was  sent 
to  the  Latin  School  in  his  eighth  year,  where  he  was  under 
the  tuition  of  "  the  aged,  venerable,  and  justly  famous  Mr. 
Ezekiel  Cheever,"  one  of  the  most  noted  of  New  England 
preceptors.  In  his  autobiography,  written  when  he  was 
eighty-five  years  old,  Mr.  Barnard  tells  a  pretty  little  story 
of  "  an  odd  accident"  which  "  drove  him  from  the  school 
after  a  few  weeks  "  : —  "  There  was,"  he  says,  "  an  older  lad 
entered  the  school  the  same  week  with  me ;  we  strove  who 
should  outdo ;  and  he  beat  me  by  the  help  of  a  brother  in 
the  upper  class,  who  stood  behind  master  with  the  acci- 
dence open  for  him  to  read  out  off;  by  which  means  he  could 
recite  his  [MS.  illegible]  three  and  four  times  in  a  forenoon, 
and  the  same  in  the  afternoon ;  but  I  who  had  no  such 
help,  and  was  obliged  to  commit  all  to  memory,  could 
not  keep  pace  with  him ;  so  that  he  would  be  always  one 
lesson  before  me.  My  ambition  could  not  bear  to  be  out- 
done, and  in  such  a  fraudulent  manner,  and  therefore  I 
left  the  school."  1 

But  he  soon  returned  and  got  on  very  well  in  his  studies, 
notwithstanding  he  was,  as  he  confesses,  "  a  very  naughty 
boy,  much  given  to  play."  At  length  Mr.  Cheever  re- 
sorted to  an  ingenious  device.  "  You  Barnard,"  said  he, 
"  I  know  you  can  do  well  enough  if  you  will ;  but  you  are 
so  full  of  play  that  you  hinder  your  classmates  from  getting 
their  lessons ;  and  therefore,  if  any  of  them  cannot  perform 
their  duty,  I  shall  correct  you  for  it."  "  One  unlucky  day, 
one  of  my  classmates  did  not  look  into  his  book,  and  there- 

R.  N.  Meriam,  Collections  of  the  Worcester  Society  of  Antiquity,  IX,  no. 

27,  PP-  93  f- 

1  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  3d  Series,  V,  178. 


232  THE   OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

fore  could  not  say  his  lesson,  though  I  called  upon  him 
once  and  again  to  mind  his  book ;  upon  which  our  master 
beat  me.  I  told  master  the  reason  why  he  could  not  say 
his  lesson  was,  his  declaring  he  would  beat  me  if  any  of  the 
class  were  wanting  in  their  duty;  since  which  this  boy 
would  not  look  into  his  book,  though  I  called  upon  him  to 
mind  his  book,  as  the  class  could  witness.  The  boy  was 
pleased  with  my  being  corrected,  and  persisted  in  his 
neglect',  for  which  I  was  still  corrected,  and  that  for  several 
days.  I  thought,  in  justice,  I  ought  to  correct  the  boy, 
and  compel  him  to  a  better  temper;  and  therefore,  after 
school  was  done,  I  went  up  to  him,  and  told  him  I  had 
been  beaten  several  times  for  his  neglect;  and  since  mas- 
ter would  not  correct  him  I  would,  and  I  should  do  so  as 
often  as  I  was  corrected  for  him;  and  then  drubbed  him 
heartily.  The  boy  never  came  to  school  any  more,  and  so 
that  unhappy  affair  ended."  1 

The  temptation  to  go  on  with  Mr.  Barnard's  delightful 
anecdotes  of  his  boyhood  is  great,  but  must  be  resisted. 
Still,  we  may  indulge  ourselves  in  one  more  extract,  which 
is  very  brief,  and  gives  a  charming  picture  of  the  little  boy 
and  the  veteran  schoolmaster :  — 

I  remember  once,  in  making  a  piece  of  Latin,  my  master  found 
fault  with  the  syntax  of  one  word,  which  was  not  so  used  by  me 
heedlessly,  but  designedly,  and  therefore  I  told  him  there  was  a 
plain  grammar  rule  for  it.  He  angrily  replied,  there  was  no  such 
rule.  I  took  the  grammar  and  showed  the  rule  to  him.  Then 
he  smilingly  said,  "Thou  art  a  brave  boy;  I  had  forgot  it."  And 
no  wonder ;  for  he  was  then  above  eighty  years  old.2 

Mr.  Cheever  was  master  of  the  Boston  Latin  School  for 
nearly  forty  years.  He  died  in  1 708,  at  the  age  of  ninety- 
three,  and  was  honored  with  a  singular  poetical  tribute  from 

1  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  3d  Series,  V,  179-80. 

2  The  same,  p.  180. 


THE   SCHOOLMASTER  233 

the  pen  of  Benjamin  Tompson,  "  the  renowned  poet  of 
New  England."1  It  bore  a  title  prophetic  of  Browning, 
"  The  Grammarians  Funeral,"  and  was  printed  as  a 
broadside.2  It  begins  :  — 

Eight  Parts  of  Speech  this  Day  wear  Mourning  Gowns 
Declin'd  Verbs,  Pronouns,  Participles,  Nouns. 
And  not  declined,  Adverbs  and  Conjunctions, 
In  Lillies  Porch  they  stand  to  do  their  functions. 
With  Preposition ;  but  the  most  affection 
Was  still  observed  in  the  Interjection. 

This  is  quaint  enough,  but  the  oddest  thing  about  the 
verses  is  that  they  are  announced  in  the  broadside  as  hav- 
ing been  originally  "  composed  upon  the  Death  of  Mr. 
John  Woodmancy,  formerly  a  School-Master  in  Boston : 
But  now  Published  upon  the  Death  of  the  Venerable  Mr. 
Ezekiel  Chevers."  In  other  words,  a  second-hand  elegy ! 

The  chapter  may  close  with  a  bit  from  the  Almanac  for 
1807  (July),  which  will  serve  as  a  fitting  epilogue  to  our 
pedagogical  miscellany:  — 

/  have  more  pork  in  my  cellar,  said  neighbor  Braggadocia, 
than  all  the  Almanack  makers  in  Christendom.  Fie  on  your  larnin, 
and  all  that  stuff ;  I  wants  none  of  your  nonsense.  No  man  shall 
teach  me,  faith.  Now  I  forebore  to  dispute  with  this  great  man  ; 
for  the  proverb  says,  you  cannot  make  a  silken  purse  of  a  sow's 


1  See  pp.  356  f.,  below. 

2  Reproduced  by  Dr.   Samuel  A.  Green  in  his  Ten  Fac-Simile  Repro- 
ductions, Boston,  1902,  No.  III. 


T 


TITLES   OF  HONOR 

HE  Almanac  for  1794  contains  "  A  complete  list 
of  the  present  CONGRESS  of  the  UNITED 
STATES."  At  the  head  stand  — 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON,  LL.  D.,  President  of  the  United 
States, 

JOHN  ADAMS,  LL.  D.,  Vice- President  of  the  United  States, 
and  President  of  the  Senate. 

The  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  attached  to  these  names 
at  once  arrests  the  eye.  Such  things  were  more  valued  in 
those  days  than  they  are  at  present.  No  one  would  think 
of  specifying  a  President's  academic  honors  nowadays. 
We  are  reminded  of  the  satirical  words  of  John  Adams 
himself  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Mrs.  Mercy  Warren,  the 
historian,  in  1807:  — 

There  is  not  a  country  under  heaven  in  which  titles  and  prece- 
dency are  more  eagerly  coveted  than  in  this  country.  The  title  of 
Excellency,  and  Honor,  and  Worship,  of  Councillor,  Senator, 
Speaker,  Major-General,  Brigadier-General,  Colonel,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  Major,  Captain,  Lieutenant,  Ensign,  Sergeant,  Corporal, 
and  even  Drummer  and  Fifer,  is  sought  with  as  furious  zeal  as 
that  of  Earl,  Marquis,  or  Duke  in  any  other  country ;  and  as 
many  intrigues  and  as  much  corruption  in  many  cases,  are  used 
to  obtain  them.1 

There  is    a   curious    little    error   afloat  with   regard    to 
Washington's  LL.  D.     It  is  often  asserted,  even  by  care- 
ful writers,  that  he  was  the   first  person  to  receive  this 
1  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  5th  Series,  IV,  439. 


TITLES    OF   HONOR  235 

honor  from  Harvard  College.  The  mistake  dates  from 
1840,  when  President  Quincy's  official  History  of  Harvard 
University  was  published.  There  we  read  :  — 

After  the  evacuation  of  the  town  of  Boston  by  the  British 
troops,  which  took  place  on  the  iyth  of  March,  1776,  con- 
gratulatory addresses  from  towns  and  legislatures  were  univer- 
sally presented  to  General  Washington,  for  the  signal  success 
which  had  attended  his  measures.  The  Corporation  and  Over- 
seers, in  accordance  with  the  prevailing  spirit  and  as  an  "  ex- 
pression of  the  gratitude  of  this  College  for  his  eminent  services 
in  the  cause  of  his  country  and  to  this  society,"  conferred  on  him 
the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws,  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  both 
boards.  General  Washington  was  the  first  individual  on  whom 
this  degree  was  conferred  by  Harvard  College.  The  diploma 
was  signed  by  all  the  members  of  the  Corporation  except  John 
Hancock,  who  was  then  in  Philadelphia,  and  it  was  immediately 
published  in  the  newspapers  of  the  period,  with  an  English 
translation. l 

In  point  of  fact,  the  diploma  to  which  President  Quincy 
refers  bears  the  signature  of  a  man  on  whom  the  same 
degree  had  been  conferred  three  years  before,  in  1773. 
This  was  the  distinguished  Professor  of  Mathematics  and 
Natural  Philosophy,  John  Winthrop,  the  fourth  in  descent 
from  Governor  Winthrop,  and  he,  not  Washington,  was  the 
first  person  to  receive  an  LL.  D.  from  Harvard  College.2 

Washington's  diploma  deserves  to  be  reproduced,  in  the 
English  translation  which  appeared  in  the  Boston  papers 
of  the  time.  It  is  a  good  specimen  of  the  academic 
eloquence  of  the  eighteenth  century  :  — 

The  CORPORATION  of  HARVARD  COLLEGE  in  Cam- 
bridge, in  New-England,  to  all  the  faithful  in  Christ,  to  whom 
these  Presents  shall  come,  GREETING. 

1  II,  167. 

2  H.  H.  Edes,  Publications  of  the  Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts,  VII. 


236      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

WHEREAS  Academical  Degrees  were  originally  instituted  for 
this  Purpose,  That  Men,  eminent  for  Knowledge,  Wisdom  and 
Virtue,  who  have  highly  merited  of  the  Republick  of  Letters  and 
the  Commonwealth,  should  be  rewarded  with  the  Honor  of  these 
Laurels ;  there  is  the  greatest  Propriety  in  conferring  such  Honor 
on  that  very  illustrious  Gentleman,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 
Esq ;  the  accomplished  General  of  the  confederated  Colonies  in 
America ;  whose  Knowledge  and  patriotic  Ardor  are  manifest  to 
all :  Who,  for  his  distinguished  Virtues,  both  Civil  and  Military, 
in  the  first  Place  being  elected  by  the  Suffrages  of  the  Virginians, 
one  of  their  Delegates,  exerted  himself  with  Fidelity  and  singular 
Wisdom  in  the  celebrated  Congress  of  America,  for  the  Defence 
of  Liberty,  when  in  the  utmost  Danger  of  being  for  ever  lost, 
and  for  the  Salvation  of  his  Country ;  and  then,  at  the  earnest 
Request  of  that  Grand  Council  of  Patriots,  without  Hesitation, 
left  all  the  Pleasures  of  his  delightful  Seat  in  Virginia,  and  the 
Affairs  of  his  own  Estate,  that  through  all  the  Fatigues  and 
Dangers  of  a  Camp,  without  accepting  any  Reward,  he  might 
deliver  New-England  from  the  unjust  and  cruel  Arms  of  Britain, 
and  defend  the  other  Colonies ;  and  Who,  by  the  most  signal 
Smiles,  of  Divine  Providence  on  his  Military  Operations,  drove 
the  Fleet  and  Troops  of  the  Enemy  with  disgraceful  Precipitation 
from  the  Town  of  Boston,  which  for  eleven  Months  had  been 
shut  up,  fortified,  and  defended  by  a  Garrison  of  above  seven 
Thousand  Regulars;  so  that  the  Inhabitants,  who  suffered  a 
great  Variety  of  Hardships  and  Cruelties  while  under  the  Power 
of  their  Oppressors,  now  rejoice  in  their  Deliverance,  the  neigh- 
bouring Towns  are  freed  from  the  Tumults  of  Arms,  and  our 
University  has  the  agreeable  Prospect  of  being  restored  to  its 
antient  Seat. 

Know  ye  therefore,  that  We,  the  President  and  Fellows  of 
Harvard-College  in  Cambridge,  (with  the  Consent  of  the  Honored 
and  Reverend  Overseers  of  our  Academy)  have  constituted  and 
created  the  aforesaid  Gentleman,  GEORGE  WASHINGTON, 
who  merits  the  highest  Honor,  DOCTOR  of  LAWS,  the  Law  of 
Nature  and  Nations,  and  the  Civil  Law ;  and  have  given  and 


TITLES   OF   HONOR  237 

granted  him  at  the  same  Time  all  Rights,  Privileges,  and  Honors 
to  the  said  Degree  pertaining. 

In  Testimony  whereof,  We  have  affixed  the  Common  Seal  of 
our  University  to  these  Letters,  and  subscribed  them  with  our 
Hand  writing  this  Third  Day  of  April  in  the  Year  of  our  Lord 
one  Thousand  seven  Hundred  Seventy-six.1 

The  early  numbers  of  the  Almanac  are  not  lacking  in 
tributes  of  respect  to  "  that  very  illustrious  gentleman, 
George  Washington,  Esq.,"  as  the  translated  diploma  calls 
him.  One  of  the  most  felicitous  is  incidental.  It  occurs 
in  a  kind  of  epigram  addressed  to  those  farmers  who  allow 
needless  anxiety  for  state  affairs  to  interfere  with  their 
more  immediate  concerns :  — 

ADVICE. 
To  Country  Politicians. 

Go  weed  your  corn,  and  plow  your  land, 
And  by  Columbia's  interest  stand, 

Cast  prejudice  away  ; 
To  able  heads  leave  state  affairs, 
Give  raling  o'er,  and  say  your  prayers, 

For  stores  of  corn  and  hay, 
With  politics  ne'er  break  your  sleep 
But  ring  your  hogs,  and  shear  your  sheep, 

And  rear  your  lambs  and  calves ; 
And  WASHINGTON  will  take  due  care 
That  Briton  never  more  shall  dare 

Attempt  to  make  you  slaves.2 

There  is  a  briefer  exhortation  to  a  similar  effect  in  the 
Farmer's  Calendar  for  June,  1807:  "Cut  your  clover; 
and  mind  your  business." 

In   1820  the  English  traveller  Hodgson  was  told  by  an 

1  Albert  Matthews,  ibid.;  printed   also  from  the  New-England  Chronicle 
in  J.  T.  Buckingham's  Specimens  of  Newspaper  Literature,  Boston,  1850,  I, 
223-4. 

2  Almanac  for  1796. 


238  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

acquaintance  "  that  much  as  General  Washington  rode  and 
walked  through  the  streets,  during  a  residence  of  several 
years  in  Philadelphia,  he  seldom  passed  a  window,  without 
the  party  in  the  room  rising  to  look  at  him,  although  they 
might  have  been  in  his  company  the  hour  before."  Hodg- 
son remarks  that  he  had  often  heard  the  same  thing  from 
other  Americans.1 

Yet  there  were  local  functionaries  who  were  greater 
than  Washington,  as  was  shown  by  an  adventure  that 
befell  him  in  Connecticut  on  a  Sunday  in  1789.  "The 
President,"  according  to  the  Columbian  Centinel,  "  on 
his  return  to  New-York  from  his  late  tour,  through 
Connecticut,  having  missed  his  way  on  Saturday,  was 
obliged  to  ride  a  few  miles  on  Sunday  morning,  in  order 
to  gain  the  town,  at  which  he  had  previously  proposed  to 
have  attended  divine  service.  —  Before  he  arrived,  however, 
he  was  met  by  a  Tythingman,  who  commanding  him  to 
stop,  demanded  the  occasion  of  his  riding;  and  it  was  not 
until  the  President  had  informed  him  of  every  circumstance, 
and  promised  to  go  no  further  than  the  town  intended, 
that  the  Tythingman  would  permit  him  to  proceed  on  his 
journey."  2 

A  similar  adventure  is  said  to  have  befallen  General 
William  Eaton  in  the  same  State  some  years  later.  Gen- 
eral Eaton,  however,  met  the  occasion  with  less  repose. 
He  had  just  returned  from  Africa  after  his  famous  march 
across  the  Desert  of  Barca  and  his  capture  of  Derne  in  the 
war  with  Tripoli  (1805),  and  was  travelling  in  his  carriage 
from  Hartford  to  Boston.  On  his  way  through  the  parish 
of  North  Coventry,  "  as  he  neared  the  village  church,  his 
coachman  was  ordered  to  stop,  with  a  threatened  fine  for 
journeying  on  the  Sabbath.  As  soon  as  the  old  soldier 

1  Adam  Hodgson,  Letters  from  North  America,  London,  1824,  II,  18-19. 

2  Columbian  Centinel,  December,  1789,  as  quoted  by  Henry  M.  Brooks, 
New-England  Sunday,  Boston,  1886,  pp.  1-2. 


TITLES    OF   HONOR  239 

learned  the  cause  of  his  detention,  he  thrust  his  head  from 
a  carriage  window,  and  with  a  pistol  in  hand  he  exclaimed : 
'Where  is  the  man  who  stops  my  carriage?  I  don't 
care  to  shoot  him,  but  I  think  I  will !  '  '  The  tithingman  is 
reported  to  have  taken  refuge  in  the  church,  and  the 
general  was  allowed  to  proceed.1 

1  Jeptha  R.  Simms,  The  Frontiersmen  of  New  York,  Albany,  1882,  I, 

o  _     _ 


MUNCHAUSEN 

THE  humor  of  hyperbole,  as  well  as  that  of  ironical 
understatement,  is  quite  in  accordance  with   the 
New   England   character.     It   would    be    strange, 
therefore,  if  our  annual  miscellany  did  not  afford  examples 
of  the  Munchausen  style  of  anecdote.     That  which  follows 
may  be  found  in  the  Almanac  for  1809  :  — 

AMUSING. 

MR.  THOMAS, 

We  have  frequently  heard  of  the  wonderful  feats  and  extraordi- 
nary stories  of  Simonds,  old  Kidder,  and  Sam  Hyde  ;  but  I  be- 
lieve neither  of  them  have  exceeded  the  following,  related  by 

G.  H 11,  a  mighty  hunter,  and   known  in  that   part  of  the 

country  where  he  lived  by  the  name  of  the  VERMONT  NIMROD.  —  It 
may  serve  to  divert  some  of  your  evening  readers.  A.  Z. 

"  I  WAS  once,"  said  he,  "passing  down  the  banks  of  the  Hud- 
son in  search  of  game,  and  suddenly  heard  a  crackling  on  the 
opposite  bank.  Looking  across  the  river,  I  saw  a  stately  buck, 
and  instantly  drew  up  and  let  fly  at  him.  That  very  moment  a 
huge  sturgeon  leaped  from  the  river  in  the  direction  of  my  piece. 
—  The  ball  went  through  him,  and  passed  on.  I  flung  down  my 
gun  —  threw  off  my  coat  and  hat,  and  swam  for  the  floating  fish, 
which,  mounting,  I  towed  to  the  bank  and  went  to  see  what  more 
my  shot  had  done  for  me.  I  found  the  ball  had  passed  through 
the  heart  of  the  deer,  and  struck  into  a  hollow  tree  beyond ; 
where  the  honey  was  running  out  like  a  river  !  I  sprung  round 
to  find  something  to  stop  the  hole  with,  and  caught  hold  of  a 
white  rabbit  —  It  squeaked  just  like  a  stuck  pig  ;  so  I  thrash'd 
it  away  from  me  in  a  passion  at  the  disappointment,  and  it  went 


MUNCHAUSEN  241 

with  such  force  that  it  killed  three  cock  partridges  and  a  wood 
cock."  ! ! ! 

Simonds  and  old  Kidder,  who  are  mentioned  by  Mr. 
Thomas's  facetious  correspondent  as  the  heroes  of  incred- 
ible adventures,  have  not  been  identified,  and  the  name 
of  "  the  Vermont  Nimrod  "  is  as  puzzling  a  question  as 
those  propounded  by  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  —  "What  song 
the  Sirens  sang  or  what  name  Achilles  assumed  when  he 
hid  himself  among  women."  Sam  Hyde,  however,  is  a 
more  familiar  personage.  In  1820  Mr.  Thomas  remarks, 
in  rejecting  an  anecdote  offered  by  a  correspondent,  that 
it  "  smells  too  strong  of  the  marvellous  "  and  "  is  better 
calculated  for  Sam  Hyde's  Register."  Sam  has  even  be- 
come proverbial.  "  To  lie  like  Sam  Hyde  "  is  still  a  New 
England  saying,  though,  like  so  many  old  saws,  it  is  going 
out  of  use  as  the  population  becomes  more  mixed.  He  is 
said  to  have  been  an  Indian,  and  here  is  his  biography  as 
it  stands  in  S.  G.  Drake's  Book  of  the  Indians.  If  it  is  not 
true,  it  is  all  the  more  appropriate  in  view  of  Sam's  talent 
for  mendacity. 

Sam  Hide.  —  There  are  few,  we  imagine,  who  have  not  heard 
of  this  personage ;  but,  notwithstanding  his  great  notoriety,  we 
might  not  be  thought  serious  in  the  rest  of  our  work,  were  we  to 
enter  seriously  into  his  biography ;  for  the  reason,  that  from  his 
day  to  this,  his  name  has  been  a  by-word  in  all  New  England, 
and  means  as  much  as  to  say  the  greatest  of  liars.  It  is  on 
account  of  the  following  anecdote  that  he  is  noticed. 

Sam  Hide  was  a  notorious  cider-drinker  as  well  as  liar,  and 
used  to  travel  the  country  to  and  fro  begging  it  from  door  to  door. 
At  one  time  he  happened  in  a  region  of  country  where  cider  was 
very  hard  to  be  procured,  either  from  its  scarcity,  or  from  Sam's 
frequent  visits.  However,  cider  he  was  determined  to  have,  if 
lying,  in  any  shape  or  color,  would  gain  it.  Being  not  far  from 
the  house  of  an  acquaintance,  who  he  knew  had  cider,  but  he 

16 


242         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

knew,  or  was  well  satisfied,  that,  in  the  ordinary  way  of  begging, 
he  could  not  get  it,  he  set  his  wits  at  work  to  lay  a  plan  to  insure 
it.  This  did  not  occupy  him  long.  On  arriving  at  the  house 
of  the  gentleman,  instead  of  asking  for  cider,  he  inquired  for  the 
man  of  the  house,  whom,  on  appearing,  Sam  requested  to  go  aside 
with  him,  as  he  had  something  of  importance  to  communicate  to 
him.  When  they  were  by  themselves,  Sam  told  him  he  had  that 
morning  shot  a  fine  deer,  and  that,  if  he  would  give  him  a  crown, 
he  would  tell  him  where  it  was.  The  gentleman  did  not  incline 
to  do  this,  but  offered  half  a  crown.  Finally,  Sam  said,  as  he 
had  walked  a  great  distance  that  morning,  and  was  very  dry,  for 
a  half  a  crown  and  a  mug  of  cider  he  would  tell  him.  This  was 
agreed  upon,  and  the  price  paid.  Now  Sam  was  required  to 
point  out  the  spot  where  the  deer  was  to  be  found,  which  he  did 
in  this  manner.  He  said  to  his  friend,  You  know  of  such  a  meadow, 
describing  it  —  Yes  —  You  know  a  big  ash  tree,  with  a  big  top  by 
the  little  brook  —  Yes —  Well,  under  that  tree  lies  the  deer.  This 
was  satisfactory,  and  Sam  departed.  It  is  unnecessary  to  mention 
that  the  meadow  was  found,  and  the  tree  by  the  brook,  but  no 
deer.  The  duped  man  could  hardly  contain  himself  on  consider- 
ing what  he  had  been  doing.  To  look  after  Sam  for  satisfaction 
would  be  worse  than  looking  after  the  deer,  so  the  farmer  con- 
cluded to  go  home  contented.  Some  years  after,  he  happened  to 
fall  in  with  the  Indian  ;  and  he  immediately  began  to  rally  him 
for  deceiving  him  so ;  and  demanded  back  his  money  and  pay 
for  his  cider  and  trouble.  Why,  said  Sam,  would  you  find  fault  if 
Indian  told  truth  half  the  time  1  —  No  —  Well,  says  Sam,  you  find 
him  meadow  ?  —  Yes  —  You  find  him  tree  ?  —  Yes  —  What  for 
then  you  find  fault  Sam.  H\de,w/ien  he  told  you  two  truth  to  one 
lie  ?  The  affair  ended  here.  Sam  heard  no  more  from  the 
farmer. 

This  is  but  one  of  the  numerous  anecdotes  of  Sam  Hide,  which, 
could  they  be  collected,  would  fill  many  pages.  He  died  in 
Dedham,  5  January,  1732,  at  the  great  age  of  105  years.  He 
was  a  great  jester,  and  passed  for  an  uncommon  wit.  In  all  the 
wars  against  the  Indians  during  his  lifetime,  he  served  the  English 


MUNCHAUSEN  243 

faithfully,  and  had  the  name  of  a  brave  soldier.  He  had  himself 
killed  19  of  the  enemy,  and  tried  hard  to  make  up  the  soth,  but 
was  unable.1 

We  must  take  this  narrative  for  what  it  is  worth.  Drake 
cites  no  authority,  and  one  regrets  to  find  that  the  Ded- 
ham  archives  contain  no  record  of  Sam  Hyde's  death, 
whether  in  1732  or  in  any  other  year.  The  deer  story  is 
told  of  "  one  Tom  Hyde,  an  Indian  famous  for  his  cun- 
ning," in  Freeman  Hunt's  anonymous  book  of  American 
Anecdotes,  which  was  published  in  1830.  Hunt  dates  it 
"  some  years  anterior  to  the  independence  of  the  United 
States,"  and  says  that  the  white  man  whom  Hyde  tricked 
was  an  innkeeper  at  Brookfield,  Massachusetts.2  Drake's 
account  of  Sam's  ambition  to  kill  twenty  of  his  foes  seems 
to  be  adapted  from  a  passage  in  Hubbard's  Indian  Wars. 
On  July  3d,  1676,  Major  Talcott  of  Connecticut,  who  was 
pursuing  King  Philip  in  the  Narragansett  country,  after 
surprising  and  defeating  the  enemy  in  a  swamp,  turned 
towards  home,  at  the  request  of  his  Mohegan  and  Pequot 
allies.  On  the  way  his  troops  fell  in  with  a  party  of  sixty 
Indians,  "  all  of  whom  they  slew  and  took."  One  of  the 
prisoners  was  "  a  young  sprightly  fellow,"  whom  his  cap- 
tors, the  Mohegans,  were  allowed  to  put  to  death  after  their 
own  savage  fashion.  "  And  indeed,"  writes  Hubbard,  "  of 
all  the  Enemies  that  have  been  the  Subjects  of  the  precedent 
discourse;  This  Villain  did  most  deserve  to  become  an 
Object  of  Justice  and  Severity  ;  For  he  boldly  told  them, 
that  he  had  with  his  Gun  dispatched  nineteen  English,  and 
that  he  had  charged  it  for  the  twentieth  ;  but  not  meeting 
with  any  of  ours,  and  unwilling  to  loose  a.  fair  shot,  he  had  let 

1  S.  G.  Drake,  The  Book  of  the  Indians,  8th  edition,  Boston,  1841,  Book 
i,  pp.  21-22. 

2  American  Anecdotes,  Original  and  Select,  by  an  American,  Boston, 
1830,  No.  cccxiv,  II,  109-10. 


244  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

fly  at  a  Mohegin,  and  kill'd  him ;  with  which,  having  made 
up  his  number,  he  told  them  he  was  fully  satisfied."  l 

The  marvellous  force  of  the  Vermont  Nimrod's  gun 
can  be  paralleled  by  an  authentic  accident  that  happened 
in  December,  1775,  and  is  chronicled  in  Aaron  Wright's 
Revolutionary  Journal  :2  — 

John  M'Murtry,  in  Capt.  Chambers'  company,  killed  John 
Penn,  by  his  rifle  going  off,  when,  he  says,  he  did  not  know  it 
was  loaded.  He  was  cleaning  the  lock,  and  put  it  on  and  primed 
it  to  see  how  she  would  'fier.'  It  shot  through  a  double  par- 
tition of  inch  boards,  and  through  one  board  of  a  berth,  and 
went  in  at  Penn's  breast,  and  out  at  his  back,  and  left  its  mark 
on  the  chimney. 

M'Murtry's  firelock  must  have  resembled  the  Revolu- 
tionary relic  described  in  the  Almanac  for  1844:  — 

AN  OLD  GUN. 

ZADOCK  THOMPSON,  Esq.,  of  Halifax,  Plymouth  county,  Mass., 
has  now,  or  lately  had,  in  his  possession  an  old  gun,  which  has 
descended  to  him  from  his  ancestors,  who  came  from  Plymouth, 
in  the  third  embarkation  from  England,  in  the  month  of  May, 
1622.  The  gun  was  brought  to  this  country  at  that  time.  It 
is  of  the  following  description  :  The  whole  length  of  the  stock 
and  barrel,  seven  feet  four  and  a  half  inches  —  the  length  of  the 
barrel,  six  feet  one  inch  and  a  half  —  the  size  of  the  calibre 
will  carry  twelve  balls  to  the  pound  ;  the  length  of  the  face  of  the 
lock,  ten  inches ;  the  whole  weight  of  the  gun,  twenty  pounds 
and  twelve  ounces.  At  the  commencement  of  Philip's  war,  the 
Indians,  became  so  morose,  the  people,  in  the  month  of  June, 

1  William  Hubbard,  Narrative  of  the  Troubles  with  the  Indians,  Boston, 
1677,  Postscript,  pp.  9-10. 

2  Historical  Magazine,  July,  1862,  VI,  211,  cited  by  C.  K.  Bolton,  The 
Private  Soldier  under  Washington,  New  York,  1902,  p.  113. 


MUNCHAUSEN  245 

fled  for  safety  to  the  fort,  which  was  built  near  what  was  called 
the  Four  Corners,  in  Middleboro'.  The  Indians  would  daily  ap- 
pear on  the  southeasterly  side  of  the  river,  and  ascend  what  is 
called  the  hand  rock,  because  there  was  the  impression  of  a  man's 
hand  indented  on  it.  There  they  would  be  in  fair  sight  of  the 
fort.  Here,  according  to  an  antiquarian  author,  the  Indians 
would  show  themselves  to  the  people  in  the  fort,  and  make  their 
insulting  gestures.  The  people  became  tired  of  daily  insults. 
Lieut.  Thompson  the  commander  in  chief,  ordered  Isaac  How- 
land,  a  distinguished  marksman,  to  take  his  gun  and  shoot  the 
Indian,  while  he  was  insulting  them.  This  he  did,  and  gave  the 
Indian  a  mortal  wound.  Filled  with  revenge  for  their  wounded 
companion,  the  Indians  took  to  the  woods  —  running  down  the 
hill  to  the  mill  just  below  the  fort,  where  the  miller  was  at  work ; 
he  discovered  them,  and  seized  his  coat  and  fled.  Placing  his 
coat  and  hat  on  the  end  of  a  stick,  as  he  ran  through  the  brush 
to  the  fort,  and  holding  his  coat  over  his  head,  the  coat  was  per- 
forated by  several  balls.  The  Indians  dragged  their  wounded 
companion  two  miles  and  three  quarters,  to  the  deserted  house  of 
Wm.  Nelson,  on  the  farm  now  occupied  by  Maj.  Thomas  Ben- 
nett. The  Indian  died  that  night  and  was  buried  with  the  ac- 
customed ceremonies,  and  the  house  was  burnt.  In  the  year 
1821,  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  the  Indian  had 
been  buried,  Major  Bennett,  in  ploughing  the  land,  disinterred 
some  of  his  bones,  a  pipe,  a  stone  jug,  and  a  knife,  all  much 
decayed  by  the  slow  but  all  destroying  hand  of  time.  Maj.  Bv 
a  few  years  since,  measured  the  distance  from  the  fort  to  the 
rock  where  the  Indian  was,  and  made  the  astonishing  distance  of 
155  rods  —  nearly  half  a  mile. 

Zadock  Thompson's  gun  must  have  been  as  valuable  as 
that  with  regard  to  which  Israel  Fearing,  of  Agawam, 
makes  an  elaborate  entry  in  his  account  book  about 
1750:  — 

John  Fearing  bought  a  gun  of  Nehemia  bese  for  3  bushalls  of 
corn  and  3  bushalls  of  rye  at  six  pounds  twelve  Shillings  and  If 


246      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

ye  corn  or  rye  fecheth  more  by  the  18  day  of  Augest  he  is  to 
give  it  and  to  pay  for  mending  his  gun  If  he  Redeemeth  her.1 

William  Priest,  an  English  theatrical  musician,  who  was 
in  this  country  on  a  professional  tour  from  1793  to  1797, 
did  not  fail  to  learn  that  the  provincials  were  good  shots. 
"  I  have  heard,"  he  writes,  "  a  hundred  improbable  stories 
relative  to  what  has  been  done  with  the  rifle  by  famous 
marksmen  in  America,  such  as  shooting  an  apple  from 
a  child's  head,  &c. ;  to  which  I  could  not  give  credit:  but, 
I  have  no  reason  to  doubt  the  following  feat;  as  it  was 
actually  performed  before  many  hundred  inhabitants  of  this 
borough  [Philadelphia],  and  the  adjacent  country.  —  Dur- 
ing the  late  war,  in  the  year  1775,  a  company  of  riflemen, 
formed  from  the  back  woodsmen  of  Virginia,  were  quar- 
tered here  for  some  time :  two  of  them  alternately  held  a 
board  only  nine  inches  square  between  his  knees,  while 
his  comrade  fired  a  ball  through  it  from  a  distance  of  one 
hundred  paces  !  The  board  is  still  preserved ;  and  I  am 
assured  by  several  who  were  present,  that  it  was  performed 
without  any  manner  of  deception."2 

There  is  no  occasion  to  be  very  skeptical  about  this  an- 
ecdote ;  but  one  cannot  help  being  amused  at  the  testi- 
mony of  the  board.  It  reminds  us  of  the  old  Greek  jest 
of  the  pedant  who,  having  a  house  for  sale,  carried  about 
a  single  brick  to  exhibit  to  prospective  purchasers  as  a 
specimen.  The  marksmanship  is  equalled,  if  not  excelled, 
in  a  story  of  certain  Virginia  mountaineers  in  1775.  Five 
hundred  recruits  were  needed,  but  many  more  came  for- 
ward, and  the  commanding  officer  determined  on  a  shoot- 
ing match.  "  A  board  one  foot  square  bearing  a  chalk 
outline  of  a  nose  was  nailed  to  a  tree  at  a  distance  of  150 

1  W.  R.  Bliss,  Colonial  Times  on  Buzzard's  Bay,  Boston,  1888,  p.  35. 

2  Travels  in  the   United   States  of  America,  London,  1802,  p.  59.     The 
same  story  is  told  by  Isaac  Weld,  Jr.,  Travels,  1799,  pp.  67-8. 


MUNCHAUSEN  247 

yards.  .  .  .  Those  who  came  nearest  the  mark  with  a 
single  bullet  were  to  be  enlisted.  The  first  forty  or  fifty 
men  who  shot  cut  the  nose  entirely  out  of  the  board."1 

But  we  must  leave  authentic  history  and  return  to  the 
apocryphal  Green  Mountain  saga  which  begins  the  chap- 
ter. It  has  a  companion  piece  in  an  anecdote  from  Connect- 
icut, the  hero  of  which  is  Prosper  Leffingwell,  a  mighty 
hunter  who  lived  at  Killingly.  It  is  given  on  the  authority 
of  Mr.  Barber  in  his  Connecticut  Historical  Collections  :  2  — 

It  were  useless  to  attempt  to  detail  all  the  events  which  marked 
the  career  of  this  famous  sportsman.  He  was  the  terror  of  the/o xes 
and  rabbits  for  ten  miles  around.  Many  instances  I  might  relate 
to  illustrate  the  degree  of  skill  to  which  he  attained,  but  let  one 
suffice.  It  is  said  that  on  one  occasion,  while  returning  home 
from  hunting,  he  met  three  foxes  advancing  towards  him  "  all  in  a 
row."  As  his  gun  was  not  loaded,  he  seized  a  stone,  and  directed 
it,  as  well  as  he  was  able,  in  a  straight  line  towards  their  heads. 
Wonderful  to  tell,  he  brought  them  all  down!  He  gazed  a 
moment  in  astonishment.  He  found  he  had  struck  the  first  in 
the  nose,  the  second  in  the  hip,  and  the  third  in  the  forehead  — 
all  with  the  same  stone  !  The  first  was  not  quite  dead,  the 
second  was  badly  lamed,  but  the  third  showed  no  signs  of  life 
whatever.  While  chasing  the  second,  the  first  recovered  and 
scampered  away.  Had  he  sprung  upon  them  the  moment  he 
saw  them  fall,  he  might  have  secured  the  three. 

Hunting  and  fishing  proverbially  offer  temptations  to  the 
skilful  liar.  Here  is  another  story  which  is  equal  to  that  of 
the  Vermont  Nimrod.  It  is  from  the  Almanac  for  1836:  — 

"  Did  you  ever  hear  of  the  scrape  that  I  and  uncle  Zekiel  had 
duckin  on 't  on  the  Connecticut?"  asked  Jonathan  Timbertoes, 

1  C.K.  Bolton,  as  above,  p.   123   (from   Harrower's  Diary,  in  American 
Historical  Review,  October,  1900,  p.  100). 

2  P.  432. 


248      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

while  amusing  his  old  Dutch  hostess,  who  had  agreed  to  enter- 
tain him  under  the  roof  of  her  log  cottage,  for  and  in  considera- 
tion of  a  bran  new  tin  milk-pan.  "  No,  I  never  did ;  do  tell  it," 
said  Aunt  Pumkins.  "  Well  —  you  must  know  that  I  and  uncle 
Zeke  took  it  into  our  heads  on  Saturday's  afternoon  to  go  a 
gunning  after  ducks,  in  father's  skiff;  so  in  we  got  and  sculled 
down  the  river  ;  a  proper  sight  of  ducks  flew  backwards  and  for- 
wards I  tell  ye  —  and  by'm-by  a  few  on  'em  lit  down  by  the  mash, 
and  went  to  feeding.  I  catched  up  my  powder-horn  to  prime, 
and  it  slipped  right  out  of  my  hand  and  sunk  to  the  bottom  of  the 
river.  The  water  was  amazingly  clear,  and  I  could  see  it  on  the 
bottom.  Now  I  could  n't  swim  a  jot,  so  sez  I  to  uncle  Zeke, 
you  're  a  pretty  clever  fellow,  just  let  me  take  your  powder-horn 
to  prime.  And  don't  you  think,  the  stingy  critter  wouldn't. 
Well,  says  I,  you  're  a  pretty  good  diver,  'un  if  you  '11  dive  and 
get  it,  I  '11  give  you  primin.  I  thought  he  'd  leave  his  powder- 
horn;  but  he  didn't,  but  stuck  it  in  his  pocket,  and  down  he 
went  —  and  there  he  staid"  —  here  the  old  lady  opened  her 
eyes  with  wonder  and  surprise,  and  a  pause  of  some  minutes 
ensued,  when  Jonathan  added,  —  "I  looked  down,  and  what  do 
you  think  the  critter  was  doin?  "  "  Lord  !  "  exclaimed  the  old 
lady,  "  I  'm  sure  I  don't  know."  "There  he  was,"  said  our  hero, 
"  setting  right  on  the  bottom  of  the  river,  pouring  the  powder  out 
of  my  horn  into  hizen." 

Washington's  proverbial  regard  for  the  truth  has  sus- 
tained one  severe  attack,  and  that  in  connection  with  a 
subject  which  has  become  a  regular  resource  for  the 
comic  "  paragraphers  "  of  our  time,  —  the  Mosquito.  The 
English  traveller  Weld  was  certainly  not  much  given  to 
jesting,  and,  even  if  he  had  been,  the  delicious  solemnity 
of  the  following  observation  would  exonerate  him  from 
any  such  charge  on  the  present  occasion: — "General 
Washington  told  me,  that  he  never  was  so  much  annoyed  by 
musquitoes  in  any  part  of  America  as  in  Skenesborough,1 

1  In  New  York,  on  Lake  Champlain. 


MUNCHAUSEN  249 

for  that  they  used  to  bite  through  the  thickest  boot."  1 
Fortunately  we  are  in  a  position  to  explain  this  astonish- 
ing observation.  It  could  not  escape  the  vigilance  of 
President  Dwight,  who  was  a  devotee  of  accuracy,  and 
always  zealous  in  supporting  the  credit  of  his  country  and 
its  institutions :  — 

A  gentleman  of  great  respectability,  [he  avers,]  who  was  pres- 
ent when  'Gen.  Washington  made  the  observation  referred  to, 
told  me,  that  he  said,  when  describing  these  musquitoes  to  Mr. 
Weld,  that  they  "  bit  through  his  stockings,  above  his  boots." 
Our  musquitoes  have  certainly  a  sharp  tooth,  and  are  very  adroit 
at  their  business  :  but  they  have  not  been  sufficiently  disciplined, 
hitherto,  to  bite  through  the  thickest  boot.2 

Probably  Mr.  Weld  had  had  his  own  experiences  with 
the  American  mosquito,  and  was  ready  to  believe  any- 
thing. For  the  benefit  of  other  sufferers  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  reproduce  a  recipe  from  the  Almanac  for  1833, 
credited  to  the  New  York  Evening  Post:  — 

TO    DESTROY   MUSQUETOES. 

Take  a  few  hot  coals  on  a  shovel  or  chafingdish,  and  burn 
some  brown  sugar  in  your  bedrooms  and  parlors,  and  you  effectu- 
ally destroy  the  musquetoe  for  the  night.  The  experiment  has 
been  often  tried  by  several  of  our  citizens,  and  found  to  produce 
the  desired  effect. 

The  Sea  Serpent  of  Nahant  has  been  responsible  for 
much  annual  mendacity.  A  sober  British  traveller  made 
inquiries  about  him  in  1820  from  "  a  gentleman  who  dined 
with  us  there,"  and  got  a  beautiful  answer.  The  gentleman 
replied  "  that  he  had  had  the  misfortune  to  see  it  three 

1  Isaac  Weld,  Jr.,  Travels  through  the  States  of  North  America,  London, 
1799,  p.  164. 

2  Travels  in  New-England  and  New-York,  New  Haven,  1822,  IV,  229. 


250         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

days  before ;  that  he  really  considered  it  a  misfortune,  as 
no  one  would  believe  him ;  and  he  could  not,  in  sincerity, 
deny  having  seen  it."  1  One  is  reminded  of  John  Dunton's 
voyage  to  New  England  in  1685  and  1686,  when,  having 
viewed  with  amazement  a  swordfish  and  a  thrasher,  he 
"  had  the  curiosity  "  to  ask  the  sailors  "  if  any  of  'em  had 
e'er  seen  a  Mermaid  or  a  Merman."  Thereupon,  if  we 
may  believe  Dunton,  "  one  of  the  most  ancient  of  'em  told 
[him],  That  he  had  formerly  been  us'd  to  Sail  to  the 
East  Indies,  and  in  those  Voyages  he  had  seen  them 
frequently."  2 

It  will  be  appropriate  to  end  this  chapter  with  a  couple 
of  passages  from  the  Almanac  which  may  answer  as  a 
corrective  to  credulity  :  — 

Read  newspapers,  but  consider,  before  you  believe ;  for  com- 
mon report  is  often  a  great  liar.  (December,  1802.) 

This  is  a  fine  season  for  the  farmer  to  enjoy  the  company  of  his 
friends.  In  these  long  evenings  he  can  now  have  leisure  to  peep 
into  the  newspaper ;  but  read  both  sides  of  the  question  before 
you  judge.  Believe  not  every  story  you  hear.  Pin  your  faith 
upon  no  man's  sleeve.  (December,  1804.) 

1  Adam  Hodgson,  Letters  from  North  America,  London,  1824,  II,  5. 

2  John   Dunton's   Letters  from   New   England,   ed.   Whitmore,   Prince 
Society,  1867,  p.  40. 


T 


THE    GREAT    MOON    HOAX 

HE  second  number  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack,  that 
for  1794,  contained  a  paragraph  of  much  interest :  — 


THE   MOON. 
[From  a  London  paper^\ 

Mr.  Herschell  is  now  said,  by  the  aid  of  his  powerful  glasses,  to 
have  reduced  to  a  certainty,  the  opinion  that  the  moon  is  in- 
habited. He  has  discovered  land  and  water,  and  is  enabled  to 
distinguish  between  the  green  and  barren  mountainous  spots  on 
the  former,  which,  as  with  us,  are  subdivided  by  the  sea.  Within 
these  few  days  he  has  distinguished  a  large  edifice,  apparently  of 
greater  magnitude  than  St.  Paul's ;  and  he  is  confident  of  shortly 
being  able  to  give  an  account  of  the  inhabitants. 

This  extraordinary  item  of  news,  for  which  the  "  London 
paper "  quoted  by  Mr.  Thomas  certainly  had  no  good 
authority,  was  doubtless  based  on  rumors  about  the  elder 
Herschel's  observation  of  the  eclipse  of  the  sun  on  Septem- 
ber 5th,  1793.  Everybody  knew  that  William  Herschel  was 
interested  in  the  moon,  and  that  the  eclipse  of  the  sun 
would  afford  him  an  opportunity  to  use  his  great  telescope 
in  studying  lunar  topography.  It  is  not  strange,  there- 
fore, that  the  journalists  of  the  day,  though  far  less  enter- 
prising and  imaginative  than  those  of  our  own  time,  got 
exaggerated  ideas  of  what  he  might  have  seen,  and  took 
their  chances.  In  the  following  year  Herschel  printed 
some  of  his  results  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  but 
these  make  no  mention  of  edifices  comparable  to  St.  Paul's 
Cathedral.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  discovered  nothing 


252  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

more  sensational  than  mountains  and  table-lands,  but  he 
got  nearer  to  our  satellite  than  anybody  had  ever  got  be- 
fore. Besides,  it  was  no  secret  that  he  believed  the  moon 
to  be  inhabited,  and  the  sun  also,  by  beings  whose  organs 
"  were  adapted  to  the  peculiar  circumstances  of  those 
luminaries,"  —  a  doctrine  which  he  taught  publicly  in 
1795,  in  a  paper  on  the  nature  and  constitution  of  the  sun 
and  fixed  stars. l  Though  it  does  not  appear  that  he  had 
given  formal  expression  to  this  opinion  as  early  as  1793, 
still  his  views  may  well  enough  have  reached  the  ears  of 
the  professional  purveyors  of  news.  It  is  not  difficult, 
therefore,  to  account  for  the  item  which  Mr.  Thomas 
printed  in  his  Almanac  for  1794.  At  all  events,  this  bit  of 
scientific  gossip  shows  that  the  world  was  ready,  toward 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  for  something  which, 
in  fact,  did  not  come  until  forty  years  later,  the  Great 
Moon  Hoax. 

In  August  and  September  1835,  the  New  York  Sun 
amazed  its  readers,  both  lay  and  scientific,  by  publishing 
an  account  of  "  Great  Astronomical  Discoveries  lately 
made  by  Sir  John  Herschel  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope." 
The  information  purported  to  come  from  a  supplement  to 
the  Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science.  Of  course,  these  dis- 
closures were  received  with  incredulity  and  derision  in 
some  quarters,  but  the  general  public  was  inclined  to 
believe  in  them.  The  circulation  of  the  Sun  increased 
enormously,  and  a  pamphlet  edition  of  the  "  Great  Dis- 
coveries" numbering  sixty  thousand  copies  was  soon 
taken  up.  The  work  was  immediately  translated  into 
French  and  two  editions  were  published  in  Paris. 

The  marvellous  story  is  introduced  with  considerable 
skill.  After  a  flourish  of  trumpets,  which  strikes  us  as  a 
trifle  journalistic,  but  which  was  not  unnatural  under  the 
supposed  circumstances,  the  editor  specifies  with  much 

1  Philosophical  Transactions,  LXXXV,  63-66. 


THE  GREAT  MOON  HOAX  253 

sobriety  the  source  of  his  "  early  and  almost  exclusive 
information."  It  appears  that  one  Dr.  Andrew  Grant  was 
a  friend  of  the  Edinburgh  editor.  This  learned  Scot  had 
been  a  pupil  of  Sir  William  Herschel,  and  was  now  entirely 
in  the  confidence  of  Sir  John,  whose  assistant  he  had  been 
for  some  years.  With  unparalleled  liberality  Sir  John 
Herschel  had  given  Dr.  Grant  permission  to  disclose  the 
main  results  of  his  recent  observations  in  advance  of  their 
appearance  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Society,  and 
Dr.  Grant  had  selected  the  Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science  as 
the  most  appropriate  medium  of  communication.  It  was, 
of  course,  natural  that  the  Doctor  should  covet  for  Edin- 
burgh the  honor  of  first  announcing  these  novelties  to  an 
astonished  world. 

Sir  John  Herschel,  so  ran  the  story,  in  a  casual  inter- 
view with  Sir  David  Brewster,  some  three  years  before, 
had  deplored  the  fact  that  with  telescopes  of  high  magnify- 
ing power  the  object  became  proportionately  indistinct. 
To  remedy  this  defect  he  had  suggested  to  Sir  David  the 
possibility  of  transfusing  artificial  light  through  the  focal 
object  of  vision,  and,  finding  that  Brewster  was  ready  to 
entertain  the  idea,  he  ventured  to  propose  the  use  of  the 
oxy-hydrogen  microscope  to  make  the  focal  image  dis- 
tinct and  even  to  magnify  it.  Sir  David,  we  are  informed, 
"  sprung  from  his  chair  in  an  ecstasy  of  conviction,  and 
leaping  half  way  to  the  ceiling,  exclaimed  'Thou  art  the 
man !  ' '  After  this  everything  was  easy,  though  it  took 
time.  Dissatisfied  with  the  size  of  his  father's  last  tele- 
scope, which  brought  one  within  about  forty  miles  of  the 
moon,  Herschel  determined  to  construct  a  truly  stupendous 
instrument,  with  an  object  glass  twenty-four  feet  in 
diameter,  "just  six  times  the  size  of  his  venerable  father's." 
The  president  of  the  Royal  Society  subscribed  .£10,000, 
and  the  king,  on  being  informed  that  the  new  instrument 
would  be  advantageous  to  navigation,  agreed  to  make  up 


254      THE  °LD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

the   .£70,000  required,  or  any  other  sum  that  might  be 
needed. 

The  author  of  the  ingenious  fiction  which  we  are  dis- 
cussing shows  some  skill  in  his  account  of  the  manufacture 
of  "  this  prodigious  lens."  The  contract  was  awarded,  it 
appears,  to  the  firm  of  Hartly  and  Grant  of  Dumbarton, 
the  junior  partner  being  a  brother  of  that  Dr.  Grant  who 
plays  so  important  a  part  in  the  narrative.  The  first  cast- 
ing was  unsuccessful,  for  there  was  a  bad  flaw  within 
eighteen  inches  of  the  centre.  The  second  attempt  pro-'" 
duced  a  lens  that  was  practically  perfect.  There  were,  to 
be  sure,  slight  flaws  near  the  edge,  but  they  were  of  no 
account,  since  they  would  be  covered  by  the  rim  that  was 
to  enclose  the  glass.  The  weight  of  the  whole  mass  was 
nearly  fifteen  thousand  pounds,  —  or  to  be  accurate,  as 
our  hoaxer  takes  care  to  be,  —  14,826  pounds,  and  its 
magnifying  power  was  estimated  at  forty-two  thousand 
times. 

It  was  decided  to  set  up  an  observatory  at  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  on  a  plateau  about  thirty-five  miles  northeast 
of  Cape  Town.  Several  months  were  occupied  in  the 
construction  of  the  building  and  the  installation  of  the 
mechanism,  which  is  described  with  a  good  imitation  of 
popular  scientific  exposition,  and  on  the  loth  of  January, 
1835,  the  huge  instrument  was  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
moon. 

The  first  view  demonstrated  the  complete  triumph  of 
Herschel's  experiment.  Distinct  formations  of  greenish 
brown  basaltic  rock,  like  those  of  Fingal's  Cave  at  Staffa, 
were  visible,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  eyes  of  the  ob- 
servers were  greeted  with  a  sight  of  "  the  first  organic 
production  of  nature,  in  a  foreign  world,  ever  revealed  to 
the  eyes  of  men."  This  was  a  poppy  field  of  great  extent, 
the  flowers  of  which  Dr.  Grant  declared  to  be  "  precisely 
similar  to  the  rose-poppy  of  our  sublunary  cornfields." 


THE  GREAT  MOON  HOAX  255 

The  discovery  was  more  exhilarating  than  it  seemed,  for 
it  proved  that  the  moon  had  an  atmosphere  so  like  our 
own  that  it  would  beyond  question  turnout  to  be  inhabited. 
Our  romancer,  however,  does  not  make  the  mistake  of 
bringing  in  his  main  matter  too  early.  He  conducts  the 
astronomers  from  one  discovery  to  another  in  orderly 
succession.  Now  they  see  prodigious  phenomena  of  lu- 
nar crystallization,  —  amethysts  of  a  diluted  claret  color, 
sixty  to  ninety  feet  in  height;  now  a  herd  of  buffaloes, 
similar  to  those  of  the  earth,  and  having  a  remarkable 
"  fleshy  appendage  over  the  eyes,  crossing  the  whole 
breadth  of  the  forehead  and  united  to  the  ears."  The 
acute  mind  of  Dr.  Herschel  at  once  perceived  that  this 
appendage  was  meant  to  protect  the  eyes  of  the  animal 
from  the  extremes  of  light  and  darkness  to  which  all  who 
live  on  our  side  of  the  moon  are  periodically  subjected. 
Bearded  unicorns  crossed  the  field  of  vision ;  then  gray 
pelicans,  engaged  in  fishing ;  soon  after,  strange  spherical 
creatures,  which  rolled  down  the  beach  into  the  water  and 
were  lost  to  view. 

This  was  enough  for  one  night,  when  taken  together  with 
discoveries  in  topography  and  mineralogy  which  need  not 
be  particularized,  and  with  admirable  self-command  the 
deviser  of  the  Moon  Hoax  made  the  next  two  nights 
cloudy  so  that  observations  were  impracticable.  What 
followed,  however,  atoned  for  such  enforced  idleness. 
Many  species  of  trees  and  plants  were  not  merely  observed 
but  even  classified,  and  the  zoological  discoveries  were  of 
the  most  startling  kind.  In  describing  the  biped  beaver, 
indeed,  the  author  seems  to  take  an  impish  delight  in  en- 
dangering the  credibility  of  his  whole  narrative.  This 
creature,  he  informs  us,  has  no  tail,  and  walks  upon  two 
feet,  bearing  its  young  in  its  arms,  and  moving  with  an  easy 
gliding  motion.  "  Its  huts  are  constructed  better  and 
higher  than  those  of  many  tribes  of  human  savages,  and 


256      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

from  the  appearance  of  smoke  in  nearly  all  of  them,  there 
is  no  doubt  of  its  being  acquainted  with  the  use  of  fire." 
But  this  risky  piece  of  romancing  is  cleverly  counter- 
balanced by  the  mention  of  great  flocks  of  genuine  sheep 
"  which  would  not  have  disgraced  the  farms  of  Leicester- 
shire, or  the  shambles  of  Leadenhall-market."  "  With 
the  utmost  scrutiny,"  continues  Dr.  Grant,  "  we  could 
find  no  mark  of  distinction  between  these  and  those 
of  our  native  soil.  They  had  not  even  the  appendage 
over  the  eyes,  which  I  have  described  as  common  to 
lunar  quadrupeds." 

Before  long  came  the  eagerly  expected  sight  of  human 
beings  in  the  moon.  The  first  group  were  not  very  prepos- 
sessing, and  one  might  even  doubt  whether  they  were  human 
beings  at  all,  except  for  their  gesticulations  and  the  fact 
that  they  seemed  to  be  talking  with  each  other.  These 
lunarians  were  only  four  feet  high,  they  were  covered  with 
copper-colored  hair,  short  and  glossy,  and  had  thin  mem- 
branous wings,  extending  from  the  top  of  the  shoulders  to 
the  calves  of  the  legs.  Their  features  were  similar  to  those 
of  the  ourang-outang,  but  more  intelligent,  and  in  sym- 
metry of  form  they  much  surpassed  their  simian  proto- 
types. A  facetious  member  of  the  party,  one  Lieutenant 
Drummond,  of  the  Royal  Engineers,  determined  to  make 
the  best  of  the  new  race,  declared  that  they  "  would  look 
as  well  on  a  parade  ground  as  some  of  the  old  cockney 
militia,  —  that  is,  if  it  were  not  for  their  long  wings. " 

After  observing  these  specimens  of  the  man-bat,  as  it 
was  decided  to  call  the  winged  man  just  described,  and 
noting  several  particulars  so  surprising  that  it  was  thought 
prudent  to  summon  the  civil  and  military  authorities  and 
"several  Episcopal,  Wesleyan,  and  other  ministers"  to 
look  through  the  telescope  and  certify  to  the  truth  of  Dr. 
Herschel's  report,  our  investigators  saw  nothing  more  of 
human  beings  in  the  moon  for  some  time;  but  they  were 


THE  GREAT  MOON  HOAX  257 

favored  with  a  view  of  an  enormous  mountain  ridge,  which 
was  one  solid  piece  of  crystallization,  "  brilliant  as  a  piece 
of  Derbyshire  spar,"  extending  for  three  hundred  and  forty 
miles.  "  We  found,"  says  Dr.  Grant,  "  that  wonder  and 
astonishment,  as  excited  by  objects  in  this  distant  world, 
were  but  modes  and  attributes  of  ignorance,  which  should 
give  place  to  elevated  expectations,  and  to  reverential  con- 
fidence in  the  illimitable  power  of  the  Creator." 

Such  reverent  reflections  were  soon  rewarded,  and  the 
rather  disappointing  impression  left  on  the  mind  by  the 
first  sight  of  lunar  inhabitants  was  effaced,  by  the  discovery 
of  a  great  equitriangular  temple  of  polished  sapphire.  The 
roof  was  designed  to  represent  a  great  sphere,  round  which 
rose  a  mass  of  violently  agitated  flames.  This  singular 
roof  was  flanked  by  cornices  of  a  style  of  architecture  with 
which  neither  Dr.  Grant,  Dr.  Herschel,  nor  Lieut.  Drum- 
mond  was  familiar.  The  temple  was  open  on  every  side, 
but  contained  no  seats  or  altars,  or  furniture  of  any  kind. 
Human  beings  were  never  seen  in  the  temples,  and  the 
Doctor  does  not  venture  to  decide  whether  they  were 
simple  monuments  or  the  deserted  fanes  of  past  ages. 

Not  very  far  from  the  first  of  these  temples  more  inhabit- 
ants were  discovered,  who  were  "  in  every  respect  an  im- 
proved variety  of  the  race."  They  were  taller  and  not  so 
dark,  and  they  had  better  manners.  When  they  came 
into  view,  —  and,  indeed,  for  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  time  during  which  they  were  under  the  lens, —  they 
were  engaged  in  eating  fruit;  and  it  was  with  much  satis- 
faction that  Dr.  Grant  noticed  symptoms  of  politeness  in 
their  conduct.  Occasionally  some  member  of  a  group 
would  pick  out  a  particularly  fine  specimen  and  throw  it 
"  archwise  "  to  some  friend  who  had  already  exhausted  the 
supply  that  was  near  him.  Carnivorous  animals  seemed 
to  be  unknown,  and  this,  together  with  the  "  universal  state 
of  amity  among  all  classes  of  lunar  creatures"  gave  Dr. 

17 


258       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Grant  and  his  companions  what  he  delicately  describes  as 
the  "  most  refined  pleasure." 

The  same  night  an  unfortunate  accident  happened,  which 
came  near  putting  an  end  to  all  discoveries  for  the  time 
being.  The  monstrous  lens,  which,  it  should  be  noticed, 
was  not  enclosed  in  a  tube  as  in  the  case  of  most  tele- 
scopes, had  been  unaccountably  left  in  such  a  position 
that,  while  the  astronomers  were  asleep,  it  focussed  the 
sun's  rays  with  terrific  force.  The  fire  thus  kindled  was 
so  fierce  as  to  vitrify  the  plaster  of  the  observatory  walls, 
but  it  was  fortunately  extinguished  before  any  permanent 
damage  had  been  done.  By  the  time  the  necessary  re- 
pairs had  been  effected,  the  moon  was  no  longer  visible, 
and  for  a  month  Dr.  Herschel  gave  his  attention  to  Saturn 
and  the  constellations  of  the  Southern  Hemisphere.  One 
night  in  March,  however,  while  Herschel  was  engrossed  in 
cataloguing  the  new  stars  which  he  had  discovered,  Dr. 
Grant,  with  other  members  of  the  party,  took  another  look 
at  the  moon.  Apparently  the  imagination  of  the  writer 
had  been  exhausted,  for  nothing  strikingly  new  appeared. 
As  a  fitting  climax,  however,  to  the  details  which  we  have 
been  tracing,  a  new  species  of  the  man-bat  crossed  the 
field  of  vision ;  and  with  these  the  account  printed  in  the 
New  York  Sun  closes,  for,  as  the  editor  ingenuously  re- 
marks, "  the  forty  pages  of  illustrative  and  mathematical 
notes  "  which  followed  in  the  Edinburgh  Journal  "  would 
greatly  enhance  the  price  of  the  reprint,"  without  com- 
mensurably  adding  to  its  general  interest.  The  new  species 
of  the  man-bat  was  infinitely  more  beautiful,  though  not 
taller,  than  the  last  specimens  examined.  "  They  ap- 
peared," says  Dr.  Grant,  "  scarcely  less  lovely  than  the 
general  representations  of  angels  by  the  more  imagina- 
tive schools  of  painters."  It  seems  also  that  they  were 
far  advanced  in  civilization,  and  that  their  works  of  art 
were  incredibly  skilful.  But  all  this,  he  adds,  must  be  left 


THE  GREAT  MOON  HOAX  259 

to   be   treated   in  "  Dr.  Herschel's   authenticated    natural 
history"  of  the  Moon. 

The  Moon  Hoax  was  the  work  of  Richard  Adams 
Locke,  an  able  but  erratic  reporter.  In  England,  where 
the  inventive  powers  of  the  American  newspaper  man  were 
not  properly  appreciated,  some  persons  fancied  that  the 
story  was  of  French  origin ;  l  but  the  evidence  of  Benja- 
min H.  Day,  the  founder  of  the  Sun,  is  conclusive.  In 
1883,  when  the  Sun  was  fifty  years  old,  Mr.  Day  was  in- 
terviewed, and  his  recollections  were  printed  in  the  anni- 
versary number  (September  3d,  1883).  Though  advanced 
in  years,  he  remembered  the  circumstances  perfectly.  He 
paid  Locke  between  five  and  six  hundred  dollars  for  the 
article,  and  it  appears  that  the  hoaxer  "  made  something 
in  addition  by  selling  lithographs  of  the  scenery  and  ani- 
mals in  the  moon."  The  workmanship  of  the  Moon  Hoax 
is  pretty  skilful.  Many  of  the  scientific  details  are  slurred 
over  on  the  ground  that  they  would  not  be  of  general  in- 
terest, or  because  it  would  be  improper  for  the  writer  to 
anticipate  the  report  which  Herschel  intended  to  make  to 
the  Royal  Society.  It  is  only  with  regard  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  telescope  by  means  of  which  these  stupendous 
discoveries  were  made,  that  the  author  ventures  to  be  at 
all  explicit,  and  here,  though  his  description  is  well  calcu- 
lated to  impress  his  lay  readers,  no  astronomer  or  physi- 
cist could  be  for  a  moment  deceived.  Nevertheless,  if  it 
is  permitted  to  correct  this  too  hasty  remark,  some  as- 
tronomers were  deceived.  Mr.  Day  remembered  that  a 
deputation  from  a  certain  college  "  came  to  the  office  and 
requested  to  see  the  original  copy  of  the  magazine  article." 
"  I  pretended,"  he  continues,  "  to  be  vastly  indignant  that 
they  should  doubt  our  word.  '  I  suppose  the  magazine  is 
somewhere  upstairs/  said  I,  '  but  I  consider  it  almost  an 

1  See  R.  A.  Proctor,  Myths  and  Marvels  of  Astronomy,  London,  1878, 
pp.  241  ff. 


260         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

insult  that  you  should  ask  to  see  it.'  They  went  back  .  .  . 
apparently  perfectly  satisfied."  Doubtless  such  scientific 
men  as  allowed  their  enthusiasm  to  get  the  better  of  their 
judgment  detected  flaws  in  the  reasoning,  and  errors  in 
the  form  of  statement,  but  supposed  they  might  be  due  to 
haste  or  editorial  misunderstanding.  Outside  of  strictly 
scientific  circles  the  Hoax  made  a  profound  impression. 
Miss  Martineau,  who  was  in  America  at  the  time,  de- 
scribes the  excitement  that  it  caused,  but  cautions  her 
English  readers  against  drawing  a  wrong  inference  as  to 
the  average  of  common  sense  and  enlightenment  in  this 
country.  She  writes :  — 

I  happened  to  be  going  the  round  of  several  Massachusetts 
villages  when  the  marvellous  account  of  Sir  John  HerscheFs  dis- 
coveries in  the  moon  was  sent  abroad.  The  sensation  it  excited 
was  wonderful.  As  it  professed  to  be  a  republication  from  the 
Edinburgh  Journal  of  Science,  it  was  some  time  before  many 
persons,  except  professors  of  natural  philosophy,  thought  of 
doubting  its  truth.  The  lady  of  such  a  professor,  on  being  ques- 
tioned by  a  company  of  ladies  as  to  her  husband's  emotions  at 
the  prospect  of  such  an  enlargement  of  the  field  of  science,  ex- 
cited a  strong  feeling  of  displeasure  against  herself.  She  could 
not  say  that  he  believed  it,  and  would  gladly  have  said  noth- 
ing about  it :  but  her  inquisitive  companions  first  cross-examined 
her,  and  then  were  angry  at  her  scepticism.  A  story  is  going, 
told  by  some  friends  of  Sir  John  Herschel,  (but  whether  in 
earnest  or  in  the  spirit  of  the  moon  story  I  cannot  tell,)  that 
the  astronomer  has  received  at  the  Cape,  a  letter  from  a  large 
number  of  Baptist  clergymen  of  the  United  States,  congratula- 
ting him  on  his  discovery,  informing  him  that  it  had  been  the 
occasion  of  much  edifying  preaching  and  of  prayer-meetings  for 
the  benefit  of  brethren  in  the  newly  explored  regions ;  and  be- 
seeching him  to  inform  his  correspondents  whether  science 
affords  any  prospects  of  a  method  of  conveying  the  Gospel  to 
residents  in  the  moon.  However  it  may  be  with  this  story,  my 


THE   GREAT   MOON   HOAX  26 1 

experience  of  the  question  with  regard  to  the  other,  "  Do  you  not 
believe  it?  "    was  very  extensive. 

In  the  midst  of  our  amusement  at  credulity  like  this,  we  must 
remember  that  the  real  discoveries  of  science  are  likely  to  be 
more  faithfully  and  more  extensively  made  known  in  the  villages 
of  the  United  States,  than  in  any  others  in  the  world.  The 
moon  hoax,  if  advantageously  put  forth,  would  have  been  believed 
by  a  much  larger  proportion  of  any  other  nation  than  it  was 
by  the  Americans ;  and  they  are  travelling  far  faster  than  any 
other  people  beyond  the  reach  of  such  deception.  Their  com- 
mon and  high  schools,  their  Lyceums  and  cheap  colleges,  are 
exciting  and  feeding  thousands  of  minds,  which  in  England  would 
never  get  beyond  the  loom  or  the  plough-tail.  If  few  are  very 
learned  in  the  villages  of  Massachusetts,  still  fewer  are  very  ig- 
norant :  and  all  have  the  power  and  the  will  to  invite  the  learning 
of  the  towns  among  them,  and  to  remunerate  its  administration 
of  knowledge.1 

After  seventy  years,  the  Great  Moon  Hoax  is  still 
famous  in  the  annals  of  popular  delusions,  though  the 
details  of  the  extraordinary  story  have  long  ago  faded 
from  general  recollection.  Now  and  then  there  is  a  feeble 
attempt  at  something  similar.  Thus  in  1897  a  few  New 
Englanders  were  taken  in  by  a  newspaper  report  that  the 
planet  Venus  "  was  an  electric  light  attached  to  a  balloon 
sent  up  from  Syracuse,  and  hauled  down  slowly  every 
night"  about  nine  o'clock.2  But  this  stroke  of  fancy, 
audacious  as  it  was,  can  bear  no  comparison  with  Sir  John 
Herschel's  experiences  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 

1  Retrospect  of  Western  Travel,  London,  1838,  II,  22-24. 

2  D.  P.  Todd,  A  New  Astronomy,  New  York,  [1897,]  p.  316. 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR   MAN    AND 
BEAST 

IT  is  a  prevalent  misconception  to  think  that  our  Puritan 
ancestors  were  addicted  to  making  themselves  uncom- 
fortable. No  doubt  they  were  'zealous  for  decency 
and  order,  and  more  or  less  rigorous  in  their  interpretation 
of  conduct;  but  it  never  occurred  to  them  that  needless 
privation  was  a  good  thing.  The  body,  to  be  sure,  was 
more  than  meat;  but  nobody  supposed  that  this  principle 
involved  the  corollary  of  starving  oneself.  Thirst,  too, 
they  held  should  be  satisfied,  within  reasonable  bounds. 
An  inn  or  ordinary,  they  believed,  was  as  requisite  to  a 
well-organized  community  as  a  school,  —  and  that  not 
merely  for  the  accommodation  of  travellers,  but  also  to 
serve  the  people  of  the  neighborhood.  Accordingly,  the 
early  records  abound  in  licenses  to  draw  beer,  or  beer  and 
wine,  and  innholding  was  recognized  as  one  of  the  most 
reputable  of  occupations.  Neglect  to  provide  an  ordinary 
made  a  town  liable  to  fine.  Thus,  in  1669,  the  town  of 
Newbury,  Massachusetts,  was  presented  for  such  derelic- 
tion, and  was  enjoined  to  supply  the  deficiency  before  the 
next  March  court  under  penalty  of  five  pounds.1  When 
an  inn  had  once  been  opened,  the  paternal  government 
kept  a  sharp  eye  on  abuses  and  visited  every  infraction  of 
discipline  with  speedy  punishment. 

After  the  Revolution,  and  at  about  the  time  when  the 
Farmer's  Almanack  was  winning  its  place  as  the  New 
Englander's  favorite  manual  of  secular  faith  and  practice, 

1  J.  J.  Currier,  Ould  Newbury,  Boston,  1896,  p.  177. 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR  MAN  AND   BEAST  263 

this  country  was  much  resorted  to  by  European  travellers, 
who,  like  their  successors  nowadays,  were  prone  to  print 
their  impressions  in  a  book.  Such  visitors  were  astonished 
to  learn  that  innkeepers  often  bore  military  titles  and  were 
leading  men  in  the  community.  John  Davis,  the  facetious 
pedagogue,1  has  some  remarks  on  this  point,  apropos  of  a 
boarding-house  in  New  York,  "  agreeably  situated  in 
Cherry-street " :  — 

Major  Howe,  after  carrying  arms  through  the  revolutionary  war, 
instead  of  reposing  upon  the  laurels  he  had  acquired,  was  com- 
pelled to  open  a  boarding-house  in  New-  York,  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  his  wife  and  children.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Cincinnati,  and  not  a  little  proud  of  his  Eagle.  But  I  thought  the 
motto  to  his  badge  of  Omnia  reliquit  senxzre  Rempublicam,  was 
not  very  appropriate  ;  for  it  is  notorious  that  few  Americans  had 
much  to  leave  when  they  accepted  commissions  in  the  army. 
Victor  ad  aratrum  redit  would  have  been  better.2 

We  may  pass  over  Davis's  jibe,  for  it  is  not  ill-natured ; 
he  was  a  penniless  itinerant  himself. 

Smyth,  who  visited  America  soon  after  the  Revolution, 
met  with  a  host  of  even  higher  rank  at  the  "  ordinary,  inn, 
or  tavern  "  at  Bute  County  Court-House,  North  Carolina, 
where  he  had  an  excellent  dinner.  This  was  no  less  a  per- 
sonage than  General  Jethro  Sumner,  who  had  played  a 
conspicuous  part  in  the  war.  Smyth  remarks  :  — 

He  is  a  man  of  a  person  lusty,  and  rather  handsome,  with  an 
easy  and  genteel  address  :  his  marriage  with  a  young  woman  of 
a  good  family,  with  whom  he  received  a  handsome  fortune  ;  his 
being  a  captain  of  provincials  last  war ;  but  above  all  his  violent 
principles,  and  keeping  an  inn  at  the  court-house  (which  is 
scarcely  thought  a  mean  occupation  here),  singular  as  the  latter 

1  See  p.  142,  above. 

2  Travels  of  Four  Years  and  a  Half  in  the  United  States,  during  1798, 
1799,  1800,  1801,  and  1802,  London,  1803,  p.  22. 


264  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

circumstance  may  appear,  contributed  more  to  his  appointment 
and  promotion  in  the  American  army,  than  any  other  merit.  For 
it  is  a  fact,  that  more  than  one  third  of  their  general  officers  have 
been  inn-keepers,  and  have  been  chiefly  indebted  to  that  circum- 
stance for  such  rank.  Because  by  that  public,  but  inferior  station, 
their  principles  and  persons  became  more  generally  known ;  and 
by  the  mixture  and  variety  of  company  they  conversed  with,  in 
the  way  of  their  business,  their  ideas  and  their  ambitious  views 
were  more  excited  and  extended  than  the  generality  of  the  honest 
and  respectable  planters,  who  remained  in  peace  at  their  homes.1 

In  1771  John  Adams  found  that  landlord  Pease,  of 
Enfield,  Connecticut,  "  was  the  great  man  of  the  town  ; 
their  representative,  &c.  as  well  as  tavern-keeper,  and  just 
returned  from  the  General  Assembly  at  Hartford."  2 

Another  tavern-keeper  of  position  was  Dr.  Nathaniel 
Ames  of  Dedham,  Massachusetts,  equally  celebrated  for 
his  drugs,  his  inn,  and  his  almanac.  The  almanac  was  a 
good  medium  for  the  advertisement  of  the  tavern.  He 
announced  the  opening  of  his  house  of  entertainment  in 
his  issue  for  1751  :  — 

Advertisement. 

SE  are  to  signify  to  all  Persons  thai  travel  the  great 
Post-Road  South-  West  from  Boston,  That  I  keep  a  House  of 
Publick  Entertainment  Eleven  Miles  from  Boston,  at  the  Sign  of 
the  SUN.  If  they  want  Refreshment,  and  see  Cause  to  be  my 
Guests,  they  shall  be  well  entertained  at  a  reasonable  Rate, 

N.  Ames. 

For  some  reason  the  "  Sign  of  the  SUN  "  did  not  get 
into  position  promptly.  Hence  in  1752  Dr.  Ames  returned 
to  the  subject  as  follows  :  — 

1  J.  F.  D.  Smyth,  Tour  in  the  United  States,  London,  1784,  I,  114-15. 

2  Diary,  June  7,  1771,  Works,  ed.  C.  F.  Adams,  Boston,  1850,  II,  271. 


Of  the  Ecliffes  for  1751. 

THERE  will  be  Four  Eclipfes  this  Year,  two  of 
the  Sun,  and  alfo  as  many  of  the  Moon,,  in 
the  following  Order,  viz. 

I.    The  Firft  will  be  of  the  StfN,  May  the  ijth 
at  Eight  in  the  Evening,  invifible. 

[J.    The  Second  ia  of  the  MOON*  May  the 
2$lh,  vifible,  calcalated  as  followt, 


Beginning,  •    •»    7    20 1 

Middle,    ...  9      4  v  Evening, 

End,     -     -    -    10    46 1 

Durstlon,    -     -    3    26j 

Digits  eclipfed,      10    2£ 
III.    The  Third  will  be  of  the  SUN,  November 
the  3d,  at  Eight  at  Night,  invifible. 

IV  The  Fourth  and  laft  is  of  the  MOON,  the 
2  eft  Day  of  November  >  pertly  vifible  ;  ai  the  Sxio's 
Setting  the  Moon  will  rife  two  Thirds  eclipfed  ; 
bat  by  that  Time  the  Day-light  is  |one  fo  as  to 
have  a  good  Profpeft  of  the  Moon,  the  Eclipfe 
will  end. 

? 


THESE  an  tofegnify  to  all  Per  font  that 
tie  greet  Pop-Road  Soutb'Wejf  from  Boston, 
That  I  keep  a  Hwfe  of  Publick  Etterttimaent 
Eleven  Miles  from  Bofion,  at  the  Sign  of  tbe  SUN. 
IftbeywantRefreJbmenti  ana  fee  Caufe  tofaiay 
GueJtS)  tbeyjball  be  well  etitertaineit^areafatable, 
Rate, 

N.  Ames. 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR  MAN  AND   BEAST  265 

The  Affairs  of  my  House  are  of  a  Publick  Nature,  and  therefore 
I  hope  may  be  mentioned  here  without  offence  to  my  Reader : 
The  Sign  I  advertised  last  Year  by  Reason  of  some  little  Disap- 
pointments is  not  put  up,  but  the  Thing  intended  to  be  signified 
by  it  is  to  be  had  according  to  said  Advertisement.  And  I  beg 
Leave  further  to  add,  that  if  any  with  a  View  of  Gain  to  them- 
selves, or  Advantage  to  their  Friends,  have  reported  Things  of 
my  House  in  contradiction  to  the  aforesaid  Advertisement,  I  would 
only  have  those  whom  they  would  influence  consider,  that  where 
the  Narrator  is  not  honest,  is  not  an  Eye  or  Ear- Witness,  can't 
trace  his  Story  to  the  original,  has  it  only  by  Hear-say,  a  thou- 
sand such  Witnesses  are  not  sufficient  to  hang  a  Dog :  &  I  hope 
no  Gentleman  that  travels  the  Road  will  have  his  Mind  bias'd 
against  my  House  by  such  idle  Reports.1 

It  is  pleasant  to  know  that  the  doctor's  vigorous  defence 
was  effectual  and  that  the  Sun  Tavern  enjoyed  great  and 
long-continued  prosperity. 

The  manners  of  the  landlord  were  often  a  subject  of 
comment.  Foreigners  were  now  and  then  shocked  or 
offended  at  a  lack  of  that  subserviency  which  they  had 
always  associated  with  innkeepers  in  their  own  country, 
but  the  more  sensible  among  them  soon  came  to  under- 
stand the  reason  and  adapted  themselves  to  the  situation. 
Adam  Hodgson,  writing  of  Virginia  in  1820,  gives  a  good 
idea  of  the  condition  of  things  :  — 

Every  ten  or  fifteen  miles  you  come  either  to  a  little  village, 
composed  of  a  few  frame  houses,  with  an  extensive  substantial 
house,  whose  respectable  appearance,  rather  than  any  sign,  de- 
monstrates it  to  be  a  tavern,  (as  the  inns  are  called,)  or  to  a 
single  house  appropriated  to  that  purpose,  and  standing  alone  in 
the  woods.  At  these  taverns  you  are  accosted,  often  with  an 
easy  civility,  sometimes  with  a  repulsive  frigidity,  by  a  landlord 
who  appears  perfectly  indifferent  whether  or  not  you  take  any- 

1  These  advertisements  are  quoted  by  Edward  Field,  The  Colonial  Tav- 
ern, Providence,  1897,  pp.  103-5  !  tne>'  are  given  here  from  the  originals. 


266      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

thing  for  the  good  of  the  house.  If,  however,  you  intimate  an 
intention  to  take  some  refreshment,  a  most  plentiful  repast  is,  in 
due  time,  set  before  you,  consisting  of  beef-steaks,  fowls,  turkies, 
ham,  partridges,  eggs,  and  if  near  the  coast,  fish  and  oysters, 
with  a  great  variety  of  hot  bread,  both  of  wheat  flour  and  Indian- 
corn,  the  latter  of  which  is  prepared  in  many  ways,  and  is  very 
good.  The  landlord  usually  comes  in  to  converse  with  you,  and 
to  make  one  of  the  party ;  and  as  one  cannot  have  a  private 
room,  I  do  not  find  his  company  disagreeable.  He  is,  in  general, 
well  informed  and  well  behaved,  and  the  independence  of  manner 
which  has  often  been  remarked  upon,  I  rather  like  than  other- 
wise, when  it  is  not  assumed  or  obtrusive,  but  appears  to  arise 
naturally  from  easy  circumstances,  and  a  consciousness  that,  both 
with  respect  to  situation  and  intelligence,  he  is  at  least  on  a  level 
with  the  generality  of  his  visitors.  At  first  I  was  a  little  sur- 
prised, on  enquiring  where  the  stage  stopped  to  breakfast,  to  be 
told,  at  Major  Todd's  ;  —  to  dine  ?  At  Col.  Brown's  —  but  I  am 
now  becoming  familiar  with  these  phenomena  of  civil  and  politi- 
cal equality,  and  wish  to  communicate  my  first  impressions  before 
they  fade  away.1 

It  may  be  interesting  to  compare  this  passage  with 
Fynes  Morison's  appreciative  account  of  an  English  inn  in 
the  early  seventeenth  century  :  — 

I  haue  heard  some  Germans  complaine  of  the  English  Innes, 
by  the  high  way,  as  well  for  dearenesse,  as  for  that  they  had  onely 
roasted  meates  :  But  these  Germans  landing  at  Grauesend,  per- 
haps were  iniured  by  those  knaues,  that  flocke  thither  onely  to 
deceiue  strangers,  and  vse  Englishmen  no  better,  and  after  went 
from  thence  to  London,  and  were  there  entertained  by  some 
ordinary  Hosts  of  strangers,  returning  home  little  acquainted 
with  English  customes.  But  if  these  strangers  had  knowne  the 
English  tongue,  or  had  had  an  honest  guide  in  their  iournies,  and 
had  knowne  to  Hue  at  Rome  after  the  Roman  fashion,  (which 
they  seldome  doe,  vsing  rather  Dutch  Innes  and  companions), 
1  Letters  from  North  America,  London,  1824,  I,  20-22. 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR   MAN  AND   BEAST  267 

surely  they  should  haue  found,  that  the  World  affoords  not  such 
Innes  as  England  hath,  either  for  good  and  cheape  entertaine- 
ment  after  the  Guests  owne  pleasure,  or  for  humble  attendance 
on  passengers,  yea,  euen  in  very  poore  Villages,  where  if  Curcu- 
lio  of  Plautus,  should  see  the  thatched  houses,  he  would  fall  into 
a  fainting  of  his  spirits,  but  if  he  should  smell  the  variety  of  meates, 
his  starueling  looke  would  be  much  cheared  :  For  assoone  as  a 
passenger  comes  to  an  Inne,  the  seruants  run  to  him,  and  one 
takes  his  Horse  and  walkes  him  till  he  be  cold,  then  rubs  him, 
and  giues  him  meate,  yet  I  must  say  that  they  are  not  much  to 
be  trusted  in  this  last  point,  without  the  eye  of  the  Master  or  his 
Seruant,  to  ouersee  them.  Another  seruant  giues  the  passenger 
his  priuate  chamber,  and  kindles  his  fier,  the  third  puls  of  his 
bootes,  and  makes  them  cleane.  Then  the  Host  or  Hostesse 
visits  him,  and  if  he  will  eate  with  the  Host,  or  at  a  common 
Table  with  others,  his  meale  will  cost  him  sixe  pence,  or  in  some 
places  but  foure  pence,  (yet  this  course  is  lesse  honourable,  and 
not  vsed  by  Gentlemen)  :  but  if  he  will  eate  in  his  chamber,  he 
commands  what  meate  he  will  according  to  his  appetite,  and  as 
much  as  he  thinkes  fit  for  him  and  his  company,  yea,  the  kitchin 
is  open  to  him,  to  command  the  meat  to  be  dressed  as  he  best 
likes;  and  when  he  sits  at  Table,  the  Host  or  Hostesse  will 
accompany  him,  or  if  they  haue  many  Guests,  will  at  least  visit 
him,  taking  it  for  curtesie  to  be  bid  sit  downe  :  while  he  eates,  if 
he  haue  company  especially,  he  shall  be  offred  musicke,  which  he 
may  freely  take  or  refuse,  and  if  he  be  solitary,  the  Musitians  will 
giue  him  the  good  day  with  musicke  in  the  morning.  It  is  the 
custome  and  no  way  disgracefull  to  set  vp  part  of  supper  for  his 
breakefast :  In  the  euening  or  in  the  morning  after  breakefast, 
(for  the  common  sort  vse  not  to  dine,  but  ride  from  breakefast  to 
supper  time,  yet  comming  early  to  the  Inne  for  better  resting  of 
their  Horses)  he  shall  haue  a  reckoning  in  writing,  and  if  it  seeme 
vnreasonable,  the  Host  will  satisfie  him,  either  for  the  due  price, 
or  by  abating  part,  especially  if  the  seruant  deceiue  him  any  way, 
which  one  of  experience  will  soone  find.  ...  A  Gentleman  and 
his  Man  shall  spend  as  much,  as  if  he  were  accompanied  with 


268  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

another  Gentleman  and  his  Man,  and  if  Gentlemen  will  in  such 
sort  ioyne  together,  to  eate  at  one  Table,  the  expences  will  be 
much  diminished.  Lastly,  a  Man  cannot  more  freely  command 
at  home  in  his  owne  House,  then  hee  may  doe  in  his  Inne,  and 
at  parting  if  he  giue  some  few  pence  to  the  Chamberlin  &  Ostler, 
they  wish  him  a  happy  iourney.1 

Of  course  travellers  had  to  submit  to  a  good  deal  of 
questioning.  The  curiosity  of  Americans  was  a  regular 
subject  for  comment  among  foreigners  in  the  eighteenth 
and  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Indeed  the 
inquisitive  Yankee  has  become  a  stock  figure  in  our  own 
novels  and  plays.  Patrick  M'Robert,  who  visited  New 
England  in  1774,  is  mildly  jocose.  The  people,  he  says, 
"  have  been  great  adventurers  in  trade,  and  generally  suc- 
cessful; they  are  very  inquisitive,  want  to  know  every  cir- 
cumstance relating  to  any  stranger  that  comes  amongst 
them,  so  that  a  traveller  lately  in  that  country  had  been  so 
pestered  with  their  idle  queries,  that,  as  soon  as  he  entered 
a  tavern,  he  used  to  begin  and  tell  them  he  was  such  a 
one,  telling  his  name,  travelling  to  Boston,  born  in  North 
Britain,  aged  about  thirty,  unmarried,  prayed  them  not  to 
trouble  him  with  more  questions  but  get  him  something 
to  eat :  this  generally  had  the  desired  effect."  z  This  is 
an  old  story,  which  turns  up  again  and  again  in  slightly 
variant  forms.  Isaac  Candler,  who  wrote  some  fifty 
years  later,  took  the  matter  rather  more  seriously,  in  the 
spirit  of  a  social  investigator,  and  came  to  a  very  definite 
conclusion:  — 

Concerning  one  colloquial  fault  with  which  they  have  often 
been  accused,  namely,  that  of  impertinent  inquisitiveness,  I  have 

1  An  Itinerary  written  by  Fynes  Moryson,  Gent,  London,  1617,  Part  III, 
Chap.  3,  p.  151. 

2  Tour  through  Part  of  the  North  Provinces  of  America,  Edinburgh, 
1776,  p.  25. 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR   MAN   AND    BEAST  269 

to  remark,  that  it  applies  principally  and  almost  entirely  to  the 
lower  and  middling  classes  in  remote  situations  and  small  vil- 
lages. I  met  with  only  two  persons  of  the  upper  class  whose 
enquiries  respecting  myself  were  troublesome  or  offensive,  and 
one  of  these  was  a  person  whom  I  judged  to  have  mixed  very 
little  in  society.  I  met  him  at  a  tavern  at  Schenectady ;  and  to 
show  how  much  his  inquisitiveness  was  disapproved  by  others,  I 
must  add,  that  as  soon  as  he  had  left  the  room,  another  gentle- 
man .  .  .  apologised  for  his  rudeness,  and  hoped  I  should  not 
judge  of  the  citizens  generally  by  him ;  a  remark  elicited  from 
my  having  stated  that  I  had  been  a  short  time  only  in  the 
country.1 

A  piece  of  incidental  evidence  of  a  rather  amusing  cast 
is  the  following  advertisement,  which  appeared  in  a  Ver- 
mont newspaper,  the  Federal  Galaxy  of  Brattleboro', 
July  15,  1799:  — 

FOUND. 

Six  Bars  of  Iron,  secreted  beneath  the  surface  of  the  ground, 
within  the  enclosures  of  the  subscriber.  The  owner  is  requested 
to  tell  how  it  came  there,  to  prove  property,  pay  charges,  and 
take  it  away. 

Joel  W.  Bliss. 

Brattleboro',  July  13,  1799. 

Mr.  Bliss,  we  notice,  is  not  content  with  the  usual  "  prov- 
ing property  and  paying  for  this  advertisement."  He 
wants  to  know  how  the  iron  bars  came  to  be  buried  in  his 
lot.  After  all,  his  curiosity  is  justifiable,  for  the  circum- 
stances were  undeniably  peculiar. 

John  Adams's  picture  of  his  landlord  and  landlady  at 
Ipswich  is  deservedly  celebrated :  - 

Landlord  and  landlady  are  some  of  the  grandest  people  alive  ; 
landlady  is  the  great-granddaughter  of  Governor  Endicott  and 

1  A  Summary  View  of  America.  By  an  Englishman.  London,  1824, 
pp.  482-3. 


2/0         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

had  all  the  great  notions  of  high  family  that  you  find  in  Winslows, 
Hutchinsons,  Quincys,  Saltonstalls,  Chandlers,  Leonards,  Otises, 
and  as  you  might  find  with  more  propriety  in  the  Winthrops.  Yet 
she  is  cautious  and  modest  about  discovering  it.  ...  As  to  land- 
lord, he  is  as  happy  and  as  big,  as  proud,  as  conceited,  as  any 
nobleman  in  England  ;  always  calm  and  good-natured  and  lazy ; 
but  the  contemplation  of  his  farm  and  his  sons  and  his  house 
and  pasture  and  cows,  his  sound  judgment,  as  he  thinks,  and  his 
great  holiness,  as  well  as  that  of  his  wife,  keep  him  as  erect  in 
his  thoughts  as  a  noble  or  a  prince.  Indeed,  the  more  I  consider 
of  mankind,  the  more  I  see  that  every  man  seriously  and  in  his 
conscience  believes  himself  the  wisest,  brightest,  best,  happiest, 
&c.  of  all  mankind.1 

At  most  inns  in  the  country  the  domestic  service  was 
performed  by  the  landlord's  daughters,  with  or  without 
the  assistance  of  hired  "  help  "  from  the  neighborhood. 
Travellers  often  speak  appreciatively  of  the  simple  cour- 
tesy and  modest  demeanor  of  their  attendants.  In  1789 
Washington  wrote  as  follows  to  the  proprietor  of  Taft's 
inn,  at  Uxbridge,  Massachusetts,  where  he  had  lodged  on 
his  return  from  his  New  England  progress :  — 

Hartford,  8  November,  1789. 

Sir  —  Being  informed  that  you  have  given  my  name  to  one  of 
your  sons,  and  called  another  after  Mrs.  Washington's  family, 
and  being  moreover  very  much  pleased  with  the  modest  and  in- 
nocent looks  of  your  two  daughters,  Patty  and  Polly,  I  do  for 
these  reasons  send  each  of  these  girls  a  piece  of  chintz ;  and 
to  Patty,  who  bears  the  name  of  Mrs.  Washington,  and  who 
waited  more  upon  us  than  Polly  did,  I  send  five  guineas,  with 
which  she  may  buy  herself  any  little  ornaments  she  may  want,  or 
she  may  dispose  of  them  in  any  other  manner  more  agreeable 
to  herself.  As  I  do  not  give  these  things  with  a  view  to  have  it 
talked  of,  or  even  to  its  being  known,  the  less  there  is  said  about 

1  Diary,  June  22,  1771,  Works,  ed.  C.  F.  Adams,  II,  282. 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR   MAN   AND   BEAST  2/1 

it  the  better  you  will  please  me  ;  but,  that  I  may  be  sure  the 
chintz  and  money  have  got  safe  to  hand,  let  Patty,  who  I  dare 
say  is  equal  to  it,  write  me  a  line  informing  me  thereof,  directed 
to  "  The  President  of  the  United  States  at  New  York."  I  wish 
you  and  your  family  well,  and  am  your  humble  servant, 

GEO.  WASHINGTON.1 

President  Dwight,  writing  about  1820,  avers  that  the 
inns  of  New  England  had  deteriorated,  and  to  prove  his 
point  he  gives  a  most  attractive  description  of  a  house  of 
the  old  style,  leaving  his  readers  to  contrast  it  with  those 
with  which  they  were  themselves  acquainted  :  — 

The  best  old  fashioned  New-England  inns  were  superior  to 
any  of  the  modern  ones  which  I  have  seen.  They  were  at  less 
pains  to  furnish  a  great  variety  of  food.  Yet  the  variety  was 
ample.  The  food  was  always  of  the  best  quality ;  the  beds  were 
excellent ;  the  house  and  all  its  appendages  were  in  the  highest 
degree  clean  and  neat ;  the  cookery  was  remarkably  good ; 
and  the  stable  was  not  less  hospitable  than  the  house.  The 
family  in  the  meantime  were  possessed  of  principle,  and  re- 
ceived you  with  the  kindness  and  attention  of  friends.  Your 
baggage  was  as  safe  as  in  your  own  house.  If  you  were  sick, 
you  were  nursed  and  befriended  as  in  your  own  family.  No 
tavern-haunters,  gamblers  or  loungers  were  admitted,  any  more 
than  in  a  well  ordered  private  habitation ;  and  as  little  noise  was 
allowed. 

There  was  less  bustle,  less  parade,  less  appearance  of  doing 
much  to  gratify  your  wishes,  than  at  the  reputable  modern  inns ; 
but  much  more  actually  done,  and  much  more  comfort  and 
enjoyment.  In  a  word,  you  found  in  these  inns  the  pleasures  of 
an  excellent  private  house.  To  finish  the  story,  your  bills  were 
always  equitable,  calculated  on  what  you  ought  to  pay,  and  not 
upon  the  scheme  of  getting  the  most  which  extortion  might 
think  proper  to  demand.2 

1  Writings,  ed.  Sparks,  Boston,  1836,  X,  48,  note. 

2  Travels  in  New-England  and  New-York,  1822,  IV,  26-12. 


2/2         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

The  learned  and  discriminating  college  President,  it  will 
be  noticed,  declares  that  in  the  old  days  "  tavern-haunting  " 
was  not  tolerated,  but  he  implies  that  times  have  changed 
for  the  worse.  This  was  but  too  true.  Idle  resort  to  the 
public  house  was  a  prevalent  vice  in  New  England  country 
towns  in  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Every 
village  had  its  tavern,  or  at  least  its  store  where  rum  could 
be  bought  as  well  as  other  "  East  and  West  India  goods 
and  groceries,"  and  many  had  two  or  three.  As  a  censor 
of  manners  and  morals,  Mr.  Thomas  felt  bound  to  warn 
his  fellow-citizens  not  to  waste  their  time  and  money,  and 
the  Farmer's  Calendar  affords  us  many  lively  pictures  of 
the  shiftless  husbandman  who  lets  his  farm  go  to  waste 
while  he  is  "  turning  the  double  corner."  Thus  in  July, 
1812:  — 

"There,  there!  run,  John,  the  hogs  are  in  the  cornfield;" 
cried  old  lady  Lookout,  as  she  stood  slipshod  over  the  cheese- 
tub.  "  I  told  your  father,  John,  that  this  would  be  the  case ; 
but  he  had  rather  go  day  after  day  up  to  'Squire  Plunket's  to 
drink  grog  and  swap  horses,  than  to  be  at  a  little  pains  to  stop 
the  gap  in  the  wall,  by  which  he  might  prevent  the  destruction  of 
our  beautiful  cornfield ;  and  then,  Jonny,  you  know  if  we  have 
corn  to  sell  we  can  afford  to  rig  up  a  little  and  go  and  see  your 
aunt  Winnypucker's  folks."  "  Aye,  aye,  mother,  let  us  mind  the 
main  chance,  as  our  minister  told  us  the  other  day.  You  look  to 
your  cheese-tubs,  I  '11  see  to  the  hogs,  and  with  a  little  good  luck, 
by  jinks,  mother,  we  may  be  able  to  hold  up  our  heads  yet." 

Old  lady  Lookout  and  her  energetic  son  were  no  doubt 
able  to  keep  things  going  despite  the  tippling  propensities 
of  the  head  of  the  house ;  and  so,  let  us  hope,  was  the 
heroine  of  the  following  sketch,  which  may  be  found  in 
the  Farmer's  Calendar  for  April,  1812:  — 

"  Heigh-ho-hum  !  Here  John,  take  the  jug  and  run  down  to 
'Squire  Plunket's  and  get  a  quart  of  new  rum.  Tell  him  to  put 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR   MAN   AND   BEAST  2/3 

it  down  with  the  rest  and  I  '11  pay  him  in  rye,  as  I  told  him. 
Come,  Eunice,  hang  on  the  tea-kettle  and  let  us  have  some  sling 
when  John  gets  back.  —  Wife,  how  long  before  breakfast?" 
"  Alas,  husband,  where  is  this  to  end  ?  Our  farm  is  mortgaged, 
you  know ;  the  mare  and  colt  both  attached,  last  week  the  oxen 
were  sold ;  and  yesterday  the  blue  heifer  was  driven  away  ;  next 
goes  our  grain  and  at  last,  I  suppose,  I  must  give  up  my  wedding 
suit,  and  all  for  sling  !  A  plague  on  the  shopkeepers  —  I  wish 
there  was  not  a  glass  of  rum  in  the  universe  !  Now,  husband,  if 
you  will  only  spruce  round  a  little,  like  other  men,  and  attend  to 
business,  I  have  no  doubt  but  we  can  get  along.  See  Capt. 
Sprightly,  he  is  up  early  and  late,  engaged  in  business.  He  lets 
no  moment  pass  unimproved.  See  even  now,  while  we  are  but 
just  out  of  bed,  he  has  been  for  this  hour  with  his  boys  in  the 
field  !  Why  can't  we  be  as  earnest,  and  as  cheerful,  and  as 
prosperous  as  they?  Come,  come,  hus,  let 's  make  an  effort." 

In  April,  1805,  there  is  a  humorous  picture  of  confusion 
on  the  farm,  with  a  pretty  plain  moral  annexed.  Inci- 
dentally the  nagging  wife  comes  in  for  a  bit  of  wholesome 
satire :  — 

"7  told  you  so"  says  Dorothy  — "/  told  you  so."  "John, 
where's  the  plough?  "  "  I  ha'nt  seen  it  since  last  fall."  "Bill, 
what's  become  of  our  hoes?"  "We  left  them  in  the  field, 
father."  "  /  told  you  so,"  says  Dorothy  ;  "  but  you  wou~ld  be  at 
the  tavern,  and  let  the  boys  go  a  fishing."  At  length  the  tools  are 
found,  carefully  laid  up  in  the  cider-mill  garret,  where  the  wife 
had  desired  Mr.  Simpkins'  man  to  place  them.  Who  would  not 
choose  to  avoid  the  dangerous  habit  of  tavern  haunting,  to  stay 
at  home  and  keep  himself  and  family  in  business,  rather  than 
to  be  perpetually  tormented  with  that  mortifying  cant,  "/  told 
you  sol" 

A  more  solemn,  but  not  more  effective  admonition,  oc- 
curs in  the  Calendar  for  February,  1816:  — 

18 


274  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Take  care  that  you  do  not  visit  the  grog-shop  as  an  idler.  If 
you  have  business  there,  do  it  and  away.  You  may  contract  a 
habit  of  lounging,  and  next  a  habit  of  sipping,  and  then,  my 
friend,  you  are  gone.  "  Oh,  that  men  should  put  an  enemy  in 
their  mouths,  to  steal  away  their  brains."  "  Every  inordinate  cup 
is  unblest,  and  the  ingredient  is  a  devil." 

"  Our  good  or  bad  fortune  depends  greatly  on  the  choice  we 
make  of  our  friends."  I  never  knew  Sir  Richard  Rum's  friend- 
ship worth  preserving.  He  is  warm  and  very  cordial  at  first,  but 
he  is  sure  to  lead  you  into  difficulty  in  the  end. 

Note  the  two  passages  from  Shakspere,  whom  the  Old 
Farmer  was  studying  diligently  "  about  this  time."  In 
1817  he  begins  almost  every  column  of  the  Farmer's 
Calendar  with  similar  quotations,  —  sometimes  rather 
amusingly  combined,  as  in  the  exordium  to  his  January 
counsels :  — 

"  Most  potent,  grave,  and  reverend  Seigniors,  my  very  noble 
and  approved  good  masters."  "  Rude  I  am  in  speech ;  and 
little  of  this  great  world  can  I  speak ;  yet  grace  and  remembrance 
be  unto  you  all."  Economy,  economy,  neighbor  Dash,  is  the 
main  thing  these  hard  times.  Let  it  be  your  companion  all 
about  the  house  and  in  the  barn. 

An  agricultural  application  of  the  boatswain's  orders  in 
The  Tempest  is  appropriately  assigned  to  the  Farmer's 
Calendar  for  March  :  — 

"  Hey,  my  hearts,  cheerly,  my  hearts ;  yare,  yare  ;  take  in  the 
topsail ;  bend  to  the  master's  whistle  !  "  Ay,  to  be  sure,  attend 
to  the  master's  whistle,  not  only  at  sea,  but  ye  '  land-lubbers ' 
also ;  "  yare,  lower,  lower  and  bring  her  to  try  with  main  course  !  " 
Do  you  think,  neighbour  Mopus,  that  none  but  a  sailor  can  be 
yare  ?  Ay,  my  friend,  that  won't  do ;  wide-a-wake  is  the  word 
for  us  on  shore,  and  let  us  have  no  milk-sops.  Now  the  storm 
is  over,  see  that  all  your  rigging  and  tackle  is  adjusted. 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR  MAN   AND   BEAST  275 

As  time  went  on,  the  Old  Farmer's  denunciations  of 
tavern-haunting  became  more  and  more  vigorous,  for 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  drinking  habit  was  in- 
creasing in  New  England.  The  conditions  were  approach- 
ing that  made  the  temperance  reform  of  the  second  and 
third  decade  of  the  last  century  so  imperative.  In  July, 
1821,  we  have  an  earnest,  though  highly  humorous, 
expostulation :  - 

"  How  we  perspire ! "  said  the  beef-steak  to  the  gridiron. 
Yes,  Capt.  Blowzy,  it 's  rather  warm  ;  but  don't  let  us  jump  out  of 
the  frying-pan  into  the  fire,  by  pouring  down  too  much  hot  rum 
into  our  throats.  I  -went  up  to  Esq.  Snozzle's  store  the  other 
day  for  a  half  bushel  of  salt.  It  was  just  at  night,  after  I  had 
cocked  up  what  little  hay  I  had  out.  "  By  my  troth,"  said  I, 
as  I  entered  the  shop  door,  "this  is  rather  against  the  parish" 
For  there  sat  Tom  Toozle  and  Ben  Boozle ;  Bob  Raikins  and 
Jo  Jakins,  with  6  or  8  more,  turning  the  double  corner,  as  they  call 
it ;  or,  to  use  a  military  term,  firing  off  sling  and  punch  from 
right  to  left ;  and,  could  you  believe  it,  'tis  true  as  life,  I  there 
saw  two  of  my  good,  honest  and  most  reputable  fellow-towns- 
men snug  among  them ;  old  Capt.  Cleverly  and  Mr.  David 
Easyman !  I  was  touched  to  the  very  soul ;  and  looking  in- 
dignantly at  them,  I  cried,  Come  out  from  among  them. 

Among  the  entertainments  which  country  innkeepers 
provided  to  amuse  their  guests  and  stimulate  transient 
custom,  particularly  from  the  neighborhood  itself,  the 
turkey-shooting  must  not  be  forgotten.  Kendall,  another 
tourist,  was  present  at  an  affair  of  this  kind  in  Vermont :  — 

On  these  occasions  the  taverner  fastens  one  turkey  after 
another  to  a  post,  and  those  who  shoot  at  it,  take  aim  at  a  given 
distance.  The  shooters  pay  four  pence  half-penny  currency,  or  the 
sixteenth  part  of  a  dollar  for  each  shot,  and  half  a  dollar,  or  the 
price  of  eight  shots,  is  the  ordinary  price  of  a  turkey.  The  bird 


276      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

sometimes  falls  at  the  first  shot,  but  sometimes  sustains  no  less 
than  thirty-six;  and,  on  the  average,  is  hit  one  time  in  eight. 
When  this  happens,  the  taverner  is  but  paid  the  ordinary  price 
for  his  turkey ;  but  his  expectation  of  profit  is  formed  chiefly 
upon  the  sale  of  liquor.1 

Bowling  on  the  turf  was  also  a  favorite  diversion.  It  is 
certainly  a  harmless  amusement  in  itself,  but  the  Old 
Farmer  saw  peril  in  it  when  it  was  associated  with  tavern- 
haunting.  In  his  Calendar  for  August,  1815,  he  has  put 
himself  on  record,  incidentally  setting  forth  his  general 
creed  on  the  subject  of  sport  of  every  kind  :  — 

Bowling-greens  have  become  of  late  mightily  in  fashion,  to  the 
ruin  of  many  unfortunate  young  men.  —  Scarcely  a  day  passes 
without  the  rattle  of  the  pins  in  front  of  landlord  Toddy  Stick's 
house.  Every  boy  is  distracted  to  get  away  from  his  work  in 
order  to  take  his  game.  At  sun  two  hour's  high,  the  day  is 
finished,  and  away  goes  men  and  boys  to  the  bowling  alley. 
Haying,  hoeing,  ploughing,  sewing,  all  must  give  way  to  sport 
and  toddy.  Now  this  is  no  way  for  a  farmer.  It  will  do  for  the 
city  lads  to  sport  and  relax  in  this  way,  and  so  there  are  proper 
times  and  seasons  for  farmers  to  take  pleasure  of  this  sort ;  for 
I  agree  that  all  work  and  no  play  makes  Jack  a  dull  boy. 

Occasionally  an  innkeeper  ventured  into  the  domain  of 
the  showman.  A  couple  of  advertisements  will  give  some 
idea  of  this  kind  of  enterprise  as  manifested  in  Boston.2 
The  first  appeared  in  the  Massachusetts  Mercury  of  De- 
cember 9,  1800;  the  second,  in  the  Columbian  Centinel  of 
April  28,  1810:  - 

1  E.   A.  Kendall,  Travels   through  the   Northern  Parts   of  the  United 
States  in  the  Year  1807  and  1808,  New  York,  1809,  III,  200-1.      See  also 
H.  M.  Brooks,  The  Olden  Time  Series,  Boston,  1886,  IV,  141-2. 

2  H.  M.  Brooks,  The  Olden  Time  Series,  Boston,  1886,  IV,  123,  132-3. 


ENTERTAINMENT  FOR  MAN  AND  BEAST 


A  Beautiful  MOOSE. 

THE  curious  in  Natural  History  are  invited  to  Major  KING'S 
Tavern,  where  is  to  be  seen  a  fine  young  MOOSE  of  six- 
teen hands  in  height,  and  well  proportioned.     The  properties  of 
this  fleet  and  tractable  Animal  are  such  as  will  give  pleasure  and 
satisfaction  to  every  beholder. 

Price  of  admittance,  Nine  Pence.  Dec.  9,  1800. 

Monstrous  Sight  ! 

TO  be  seen  at  A.  POLLARD's  Tavern,  Elm  Street  —  A 
white  Greenland  Sea  BEAR,  which  was  taken  at  sea,  weigh- 
ing 1000  wt.  This  animal  lives  either  in  the  sea  or  on  the  land. 
They  have  been  seen  several  leagues  at  sea,  and  sometimes  float- 
ing on  cakes  of  ice.  —  This  animal  displays  a  great  natural  curiosity. 
—  Admittance  12  1—2  cts.  .  .  children  half  price. 

The  discomforts  of  inns  make  a  large  chapter  in  the 
tales  of  foreign  travellers  in  America,  —  English  travel- 
lers especially,  who  cling  tenaciously  to  their  national  pre- 
rogative of  grumbling.  There  is,  however,  a  charming 
passage  in  the  narrative  of  the  Duke  de  la  Rochefoucault- 
Liancourt,  referring  to  1795.  This  distinguished  nobleman, 
who  had  selected  a  particularly  diminutive  inn  as  a  haven 
of  rest,  was  disappointed  in  his  hopes,  but  adapted  him- 
self to  the  inevitable  with  true  French  good-humor,  and 
made  himself  useful  to  his  fellow-guests,  who  were  of  a 
a  very  humble  order.  This  was  at  Maidenhead,  near 
Princeton,  New  Jersey  :  — 

I  chose  this  petty  inn,  to  avoid  falling  in  with  the  stage-coaches, 
the  passengers  in  which,  naturally  engross  all  the  accommodation, 
at  the  inns  at  which  they  usually  stop,  in  preference  to  any  soli- 
tary rider.  I  desired  to  obtain  some  rest.  In  regard  to  the 
inconvenience  from  the  stage-coaches,  at  any  other  inn,  I  was 


278       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

very  indifferent :  but  as  to  my  rest,  I  was  not  indifferent ;  and  in 
this  small  place  I  hoped  to  enjoy  it.  But  the  only  bed-chamber 
in  the  house  happened,  when  I  alighted,  to  be  occupied  by  a  club 
of  the  labourers  and  other  inhabitants  of  the  neighbourhood, 
assembled  from  the  distance  of  two  miles  round.  These  were 
joined  by  people  drawn  together  on  account  of  a  horse-race, 
which  was  to  be  run  at  the  distance  of  three  miles  from  Maiden- 
head. These  people  had  soon  a  glass  of  grog  in  their  heads,  and 
began  to  make  a  considerable  bustle  in  the  inn.  I  was  neces- 
sarily obliged  to  retire  with  my  table,  into  a  small  corner  by  the 
fire,  to  answer  the  questions  which  they  put  to  me,  and  to  give 
them  the  use  of  my  pen,  to  scrawl  out  their  accounts.  They  were 
the  best  folks  in  the  world ;  only,  in  respect  to  their  writing,  a 
little  more  of  scholars  than  was  quite  agreeable  to  me.  I  must, 
however,  do  them  the  justice,  to  own,  that  they  did  not  hinder 
me  from  smoking  my  segar. 1 

The  tavern  was  not  merely  a  place  of  refreshment  and 
diversion  :  it  had  other  public  and  quasi-public  functions 
of  a  widely  miscellaneous  character.  Auctions  were  held 
there;  probate  courts  sat  there;  it  was  the  rendezvous  of 
the  ministers  who  assembled  for  councils  or  ordinations ; 
the  town's  business  was  largely  transacted  within  its  walls. 
When  there  were  several  inns  in  a  single  village,  —  as  was 
often  the  case,  —  nice  care  was  requisite  on  the  part  of  the 
civic  authorities  to  divide  their  favors  impartially.  The 
selectmen  of  Groton,  for  example,  met  in  succession  at 
each  of  the  three  taverns  in  that  town,  as  appears  from  an 
advertisement  in  the"  Groton  Herald  for  March  13,  1830:  — 

Stated  meetings  of  the  Selectmen. 

The  Selectmen  of  Groton  will  meet  on  the  last  Saturdays  of 
each  month  the  present  municipal  year,  at  3  o'clock,  p.  M.  viz  : 
—  at  Hoar's  Tavern  in  March,  April,  May,  and  June ;  at  Alexan- 

1  Travels  through  the  United  States  of  North  America,  London,  1799, 
I,  548-9. 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR   MAN   AND   BEAST  279 

der>s  in  July,  August,  September,  and  October ;  and  at  ShattucKs 
in  November,  December,  January,  and  February. 

CALEB  BUTLER,  Chairman^ 

Not  infrequently  the  landlord  was  a  local  magistrate  and 
his  inn  served  as  his  office. 

A  leading  inn  in  a  large  seaport  town  presented  a  scene 
of  great  variety  and  animation.  It  combined  the  functions 
of  the  modern  hotel,  club,  railway  station,  and  exchange. 
It  was  a  rendezvous  for  merchants  and  shipcaptains,  as 
well  as  for  politicians  and  officials  of  all  kinds.  Social 
meetings,  dances,  and  entertainments  took  place  in  its 
assembly  room.  Stage  passengers  and  their  friends  were 
continually  coming  and  going.  In  1801,  as  we  learn  from 
the  Almanac,  King's  Tavern,  in  Market  Square,  Boston, 
was  the  "  terminal "  for  the  stages  for  Albany,  New  York, 
Portsmouth,  Amherst,  Providence,  Plymouth,  Salem, 
Taunton  and  New  Bedford,  Dorchester  and  Milton,  Ded- 
ham,  Groton,  Quincy,  and  Canton.2  Some  of  these  ran 
daily  (Sundays  excepted),  others  three  times  a  week,  a  few 
once  a  week.  The  bustle  of  arrival  and  departure  must 
have  been  almost  continuous.  Nor  should  the  numerous 
packets  and  the  private  conveyances  be  forgotten.  The 
public  rooms  and  the  common  table  of  such  an  establish- 
ment were  picturesque  and  characteristic  to  a  degree  that 
our  modern  caravanseries  cannot  rival.  As  a  description 
of  a  large  city  hotel,  we  may  take  an  account  of  Tammany 
Hall  as  it  impressed  a  Scottish  visitor  in  1818  :  — 

Dined  with  Mr. at  Tammany  Hall.     On   one  occasion 

here  we  had  roasted  bear's  flesh  as  one  of  the  dishes  at  table ;  it 
tasted  very  much   like  roasted    goose,  but    heavier.     Tammany 

1  Quoted  by  Dr.  Samuel  Abbott  Green,  Groton  Historical  Series, 
VIII,  9. 

-  See  a  complete  Table  of  Stages,  pp.  287  ff.,  below;  and  compare  the 
List  of  Post  Roads  after  p.  304. 


280         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Hall  is  one  of  the  public  hotels,  and  noted  for  the  public  meet- 
ings of  the  democratic  party,  or  Bucktails,  as  they  are  called. 
Like  the  other  hotels  it  is  the  residence  of  a  good  many  perma- 
nent boarders ;  some  of  them  merchants  of  considerable  wealth, 
who  sit  down  every  day  at  the  public  table.  The  inn  is  with  us 
proverbially  the  traveller's  home,  but  here  it  is  the  home  of  a 
great  many  besides  travellers.  This  feature  in  the  American 
system  I  cannot  admire ;  nor  can  I  imagine  what  comfort  there 
can  be  amidst  the  bustle  and  noise  of  a  public  tavern,  or  in  smok- 
ing segars  and  drinking  spirits  and  water  in  the  bar-room. 

The  dinner  hour  at  Tammany  Hall  is  three  o'clock,  and  covers 
are  every  day  set  for  from  thirty  to  eighty.  The  resident  board- 
ers are  generally  found  at  the  upper  end  of  the  table,  and  the 
travellers  farther  down.  They  take  their  seats  at  the  sound  of 
the  dinner  bell,  and  in  a  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
most  of  them  are  ready  to  leave  the  table.  During  dinner  rum 
and  water  is  the  usual  beverage  ;  few  take  wine  unless  they  are 
entertaining  a  friend.  The  dinner  is  always  excellent,  combining 
every  variety  of  substantial  cheer  with  a  plentiful  allowance  of  the 
delicacies  of  the  season.  After  dinner  three  or  four  may  occa- 
sionally linger  singing  songs  and  smoking  segars  over  a  bottle  oi 
wine,  but  the  practice  is  by  no  means  general.  Americans  spend 
little  time  at  table,  retiring  very  soon  either  to  their  business,  or 
the  bar-room  to  read  the  newspapers.  Boarding  is  moderate  at 

Tammany  Hall ;  Mr. tells  me  that  he  pays  eight  dollars  a 

week,  while  some  of  the  more  fashionable  private  boarding- 
houses  charge  ten  or  twelve,  and  the  inmates  are  moreover  by 
usage  almost  necessitated  to  drink  wine  during  dinner.  For 
economy  of  time  and  money,  and  freedom  from  temptation,  the 
system  of  private  lodgings,  as  in  our  native  country,  is  decidedly 
preferable  to  either  the  one  or  the  other.1 

Where  there  was  no  inn,  it  was  customary  for  some  re- 
spectable citizen  to  "  accommodate  travellers  "  at  his  own 
house.  Such  a  host  was  often  well-to-do,  and  had  little 

1  J.  M.  Duncan,  Travels  through  Part  of  the  United  States  and  Canada 
in  1818  and  1819,  Glasgow,  1823,  II,  246-8. 


ENTERTAINMENT   FOR   MAN   AND   BEAST  28 1 

concern  for  profit.  An  agreeable  visit  at  a  house  of  this 
kind  is  described  by  Admiral  Bartholomew  James,  who,  in 
the  summer  of  1791,  while  captain  in  the  merchant  service, 
visited  Portland  in  his  ship  the  Maria,  and  has  recorded 
his  impressions  in  a  very  good-humored  journal,  to  which 
we  have  already  had  occasion  to  refer.1  Captain  James 
was  delighted  with  the  situation  of  the  town  and  much 
impressed  by  the  cheapness  of  provisions.  "  Meat  of 
every  sort  was  supplied  the  ship's  company,  and  they 
every  day  had  their  choice,  at  the  rate  of  twopence  per 
pound ;  .  .  .  turkeys  was  from  a  shilling  to  eighteenpence 
each,  geese  a  shilling,  and  fowls  from  tenpence  to  a  shil- 
ling a  couple;  the  best  fat  sheep  I  bought  at  nine  shillings 
alive,  and  everything  else  of  the  kind  was  proportionally 
cheap."  2 

On  his  way  up  the  Kennebec  River  in  the  ship's  long 
boat,  on  an  excursion  undertaken  partly  for  amusement 
and  partly  for  the  sake  of  acquainting  himself  with  the 
coast,  Captain  James  had  an  experience  which  throws 
some  light  on  the  conditions  of  travel  in  New  England  at 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Near  the  mouth  of  the 
river  he  was  compelled  by  heavy  weather  to  run  aground 
on  Parker's  Flats.  After  wading  over  the  flats  and  marsh 
for  "  at  least  a  mile,"  guided  by  a  Yankee  pilot  in  his  em- 
ploy, he  called  "  at  Captain  Parker's  hospitable  mansion." 
The  family  "  consisted  of  the  good  gentleman,  who  was  a 
captain  in  the  militia  and  about  eighty  years  of  age,"  his 
wife,  who  "  might  probably  have  reached  her  fiftieth 
year,"  a  nephew,  two  nieces,  "  graceful,  bewitching,  an- 
gelic creatures,"  with  "  two  domestic  rustic  girls  and  four 
rural  artless  clowns."  Captain  James's  party,  three  in 
number,  were  entertained  in  a  way  that  won  his  heart 

1  See  p.  168,  above. 

2  Journal  of  Rear-Admiral  Bartholomew  James,  Navy  Records  Society, 
1896,  pp.  187  ff. 


282         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

completely.  Their  supper  was  "  a  delicious  meal"  of  "  tea 
and  toast,  lamb-steaks  and  eggs,  and  a  moderate  quantity 
of  cider  and  grog."  Then  there  were  family  prayers,  and 
the  strangers  were  made  comfortable  for  the  night.  What 
happened  next  morning  must  be  related  in  the  Captain's 
own  graphic,  if  slightly  ungrammatical,  style:  — 

So  soon  as  the  morning  service  was  finished  and  we  had  taken 
a  very  comfortable  breakfast,  I  directed  preparations  to  be  made 
for  our  departure,  and  consulted  my  pilot  how  I  should  repay  the 
worthy  family  for  their  civility  and  kindness ;  by  whom  I  was  in- 
formed I  was  to  consider  what  expenses  they  had  been  at,  and, 
agreeable  to  the  custom  of  that  part  of  the  country,  repay  them 
for  it.  1  further  learned  from  him  that,  as  we  were  three,  and 
had  a  supper,  beds,  and  breakfast,  he  thought  the  least  I  could 
offer  them  was  three-and-sixpence  British.  I  confessed  my  sur- 
prise at  this  proposition  under  several  heads  :  first,  how  I  could 
offer  any  money  to  a  private  independent  family  for  their  civility 
to  me  as  a  stranger ;  and,  secondly,  how  ridiculous  such  a  sum  as 
he  proposed  would  appear  for  "  all  the  benefits  we  had  received 
in  mind  and  body."  To  the  first  he  assured  me  it  was  the  con- 
stant custom,  as  there  was  few,  if  any,  public-houses  in  that 
neighbourhood,  and  that  as  all  people  frequented  private  houses 
in  their  journeying  through  the  country,  it  was  usual  to  go  in  that 
way  without  the  smallest  hesitation,  and  that  they  would  consider 
themselves  much  obliged  to  any  friends  who  partook  of  their 
comforts  whatever  they  happened  to  be ;  and  the  sum  he  assured 
me  to  be  equal  to  their  expectations,  and  that  he  believed  a 
larger  one  would  be  refused.  Under  those  considerations  I. 
ventured  to  take  an  opportunity  of  addressing  the  old  lady  when 
alone,  and,  after  thanking  her  for  her  great  kindness  and  civility, 
begged  she  would  allow  me  to  leave  a  couple  of  dollars  for  her 
servants.  She  expressed  the  greatest  astonishment  at  the  sum, 
and  insisted  on  my  taking  one  of  the  dollars  back,  which,  on  my 
declining,  she  said,  "  Well,  you  will  come  again  to  us  in  your  way 
down  the  river,  and  then  you  must  pay  nothing." 


ENTERTAINMENT  FOR  MAN  AND  BEAST      283 

On  the  return  trip,  Captain  James  and  his  party  were 
again  entertained  at  the  same  house,  and  Mrs.  Parker  was  as 
good  as  her  word,  refusing  to  accept  any  more  money  and 
insisting  that  she  had  already  been  sufficiently  paid.  The 
whole  incident  is  highly  instructive  ;  for  the  Captain  makes 
it  plain  that  the  Parkers  did  not  keep  an  inn  and  had  no 
wish  to  make  a  profit  out  of  their  guests,  being  a  well-to-do 
family.  They  were  simply  following  the  custom  of  the 
country  in  accommodating  travellers,  since  there  was  no 
public  house  in  the  neighborhood. 

On  the  same  expedition  Captain  James  spent  a  night  at 
Rittle's  tavern  at  Pownalborough,  of  which  he  has  left  an 
equally  agreeable  record  :  - 

This  house  was  kept  by  a  German  and  his  wife,  who  had  a 
family  of  two  sons  and  four  daughters.  Two  of  the  latter  were 
extremely  handsome,  and  the  civility  of  the  whole  house  in- 
duced me  to  take  up  my  quarters  there  for  the  night.  I  there- 
fore directed  a  small  supper  to  be  provided,  and  at  nine  o'clock 
sat  down  to  as  comfortable  a  meal  as  I  ever  remember  to 
have  fed  upon.  The  old  man  smoked  his  pipe,  and  related  his 
peregrinations  and  the  difficulties  he  laboured  under  in  the 
American  war ;  the  good  old  wife  prepared  the  feast,  while  the 
daughters,  clad  in  homely  apparel,  but  with  looks  of  native 
sweetness,  virtue  and  truth,  did  us  the  kindness  to  attend  the 
table.1 

John  Davis,  the  whimsical  humorist  whom  we  have  more 
than  once  quoted,  does  not  fail  to  note  the  hospitable 
custom  of  entertaining  strangers  at  private  houses.  Inci- 
dentally he  laughs  at  his  fellow-Britons  for  their  habitual 
grumbling.  He  is  speaking  of  Virginia,  but  the  expe- 
riences of  Admiral  James  prove  that  what  he  says  was  true 
of  other  parts  of  the  country :  — 

1  Journal,  p.  192. 


284      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

I  eat  my  dinner  in  a  log-house  on  the  road.  It  was  kept  by  a 
small  planter  of  the  name  of  Homer.  Such  a  tavern  would  have 
raised  the  thunder  and  lightning  of  anger  in  the  page  of  my 
brother-travellers  in  America.  But  the  lamented  scarcity  of 
American  inns  is  easily  accounted  for.  In  a  country  where  every 
private  house  is  a  temple  dedicated  to  hospitality,  and  open  alike 
to  travellers  of  every  description,  ought  it  to  excite  surprize  that 
so  few  good  taverns  are  to  be  found  ? l 

On  the  whole,  it  appears  that  the  inns  or  taverns  of 
New  England  were  pretty  comfortable  places,  and  that 
some  of  them  were  rather  distinguished.  Tourists  are  pro- 
verbially hard  to  please,  and  it  is  natural  that  we  should 
hear  more  of  the  unpleasant  than  of  the  agreeable  inci- 
dents that  accompanied  travelling  in  a  new  country.  But 
the  good  repute  of  our  hotels  nowadays  is  merely  a  con- 
tinuation of  the  character  which  they  bore  in  old  times. 
The  administrative  capacity  for  which  the  Yankee  is  fa- 
mous has  applied  itself  successfully  to  the  complicated 
business  of  innholding.  Many  noted  landlords  in  other 
parts  of  the  country  have  been  New  England  men.  Good 
cheer  has  become  a  cherished  American  institution.  We 
can  hardly  venture  to  assert  that  its  home  is  New  England  ; 
but  one  would  find  it  hard  to  make  out  a  better  case  for 
any  other  part  of  the  continent. 

1  Travels  in  the  United  States  of  America,  London,  1803,  p.  341. 


ON   THE    ROAD 

FROM  the  earliest  times  in  New  England  to  the  latter 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century  travellers  usually  rode 
on  horseback,  and  for  short  distances  this  continued 
to  be  the  custom  until  long  after  stage  lines  had  become 
numerous  and  well-managed.  Felt,  in  his  History  of 
Ipswich,  published  in  1834,  tells  us  that  "  about  thirty-five 
years  ago,  horse-wagons  began  to  be  employed.  Gradu- 
ally increasing,  they  have  almost  altogether  superseded 
riding  on  horse-back  among  our  farmers.  They  are  used 
to  carry  articles  to  market,  which  were  formerly  borne  to 
town  in  wallets  and  panniers,  thrown  across  a  horse.  They 
have  prevented  the  method  of  going  in  a  cart,  as  often 
practised  before  they  were  invented,  by  social  parties,  when 
wishing  to  make  a  visit  of  several  miles."  1  Travelling  on 
horseback  is  now  so  completely  obsolete  in  New  England, 
—  though  riding  for  pleasure  is  happily  on  the  increase, — 
that  certain  directions  for  the  management  of  horses  on  a 
journey,  given  in  the  Almanac  for  1794,  have  merely  an 
historical  significance.  No  one  would  think  of  uttering 
such  precepts  to  an  audience  of  New  England  farmers 
nowadays.  They  would  have  little  more  to  do  with  the 
needs  of  the  community  than  a  treatise  on  the  care  of 
camels  in  desert  traffic.  Yet  when  they  were  written  they 
were  quite  to  the  point. 

The  English  traveller  Bennett,  in  1740,  thus  describes 
the  usual  methods  of  travel  in  New  England  :  - 

1  Joseph  B.  Felt,  History  of  Ipswich,  Essex,  and  Hamilton,  Cambridge, 
1834,  p.  32- 


286      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

There  are  several  families  in  Boston  that  keep  a  coach,  and 
pair  of  horses,  and  some  few  drive  with  four  horses ;  but  for 
chaises  and  saddle-horses,  considering  the  bulk  of  the  place,  they 
outdo  London.  They  have  some  nimble,  lively  horses  for  the 
coach,  but  not  any  of  that  beautiful  large  black  breed  so  common 
in  London.  Their  saddle-horses  all  pace  naturally,  and  are  gen- 
erally counted  sure-footed ;  but  they  are  not  kept  in  that  fine 
order  as  in  England.  The  common  draught-horses  used  in  carts 
about  the  town  are  very  small  and  poor,  and  seldom  have  their 
fill  of  anything  but  labor.  The  country  carts  and  wagons  are 
generally  drawn  by  oxen,  from  two  to  six,  according  to  the  dis- 
tance of  place,  or  burden  they  are  laden  with.  When  the  ladies 
ride  out  to  take  the  air,  it  is  generally  in  a  chaise  or  chair,  and 
then  but  a  single  horse ;  and  they  have  a  negro  servant  to  drive 
them.  The  gentlemen  ride  out  here  as  in  England,  some  in 
chairs,  and  others  on  horseback,  with  their  negroes  to  attend 
them.  They  travel  in  much  the  same  manner  on  business  as  for 
pleasure,  and  are  attended  in  both  by  their  black  equipages. 
Their  roads,  though  they  have  no  turnpikes,  are  exceeding  good 
in  summer ;  and  it  is  safe  travelling  night  or  day,  for  they  have 
no  highway  robbers  to  interrupt  them.  It  is  pleasant  riding 
through  the  woods  ;  and  the  country  is  pleasantly  interspersed 
with  farm-houses,  cottages,  and  some  few  gentlemen's  seats, 
between  the  towns.  But  the  best  of  their  inns,  and  houses  of 
entertainment,  are  very  short  of  the  beauty  and  conveniences  of 
ours  in  England.  They  have  generally  a  little  rum  to  drink,  and 
some  of  them  have  a  sorry  sort  of  Madeira  wine.  And  to  eat 
they  have  Indian  corn  roasted,  and  bread  made  of  Indian  meal, 
and  sometimes  a  fowl  or  fish  dressed  after  a  fashion,  but  pretty 
good  butter,  and  very  sad  sort  of  cheese ;  but  those  that  are  used 
to  those  things  think  them  tolerable.1 

In  the  last  two  decades  of  the  eighteenth  century  there 
was  a  great  improvement  in  roads  and  a  marked  increase 

1  Joseph  Bennett,  Manuscript  History  of  New  England,  Proc.  Mass. 
Hist.  Soc.,  V,  124-5. 


ON  THE   ROAD  287 

in  the  number  of  stage  lines.  Wansey,  in  1794,  remarked 
that  "  eight  years  ago  the  road  from  Boston  to  Nevvhaven 
a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  seventy  miles,  could  scarcely 
maintain  two  stages  and  twelve  horses ;  now  it  maintains 
twenty  stages  weekly,  with  upwards  of  an  hundred  horses ; 
so  much  is  travelling  encreased  in  this  district." l  Such 
growth  may  partly  account  for  the  complaints  which  we 
often  hear  about  this  time  as  to  the  quality  of  the  roadside 
inns.  Hotels  in  the  smaller  towns  found  it  hard  to  keep 
pace  with  the  development  of  business  and  the  advancing 
requirements  of  the  public. 

In  the  first  year  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  Almanac 
gives  the  following  — 

LIST  <?/ STAGES  that  run  from  BOSTON,  and  PLACES 

from  which  they  start. 

ALBANY  Mail  Stage  goes  through  Worcester,  Brookfield  and 
Northampton,  to  Albany ;  sets  off  from  King's  inn,  Market- 
Square,  every  Monday  and'  Thursday  morning,  at  10  o'clock,  and 
arrives  at  Albany  every  Thursday  and  Monday  noon. 

PROVIDENCE  and  NEW- YORK  southern  Mail  Stage  sets 
off  from  Israel  Hatch's  coffee-house,  corner  of  Exchange- Lane, 
State-Street,  every  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Saturday,  at  8  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  New- York  every  Wednesday,  Fri- 
day and  Sunday  noon  :  leaves  New- York  every  Tuesday,  Thurs- 
day and  Saturday,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  in 
Boston  every  Friday,  Monday  and  Wednesday,  at  3  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon. 

An  extra  stage  runs  every  day  to  Providence,  from  the  above 
office. 

BOSTON  and  NEW-YORK  Mail  Stage  sets  off  from  King's 
inn,  Market-Square,  every  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday,  at 
10  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  New  York  every 

1  Journal  of  an  Excursion  to  the  United  States  of  North  America  in  the 
Summer  of  1794,  Salisbury,  1796,  pp.  71-72. 


288       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Thursday,  Saturday  and  Tuesday,  at  i  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  : 
leaves  New- York  every  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday,  at 
1 1  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  Boston  every  Thursday, 
Saturday  and  Tuesday,  at  i  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

OLD  LINE  Stage  sets  off  from  King's  inn,  Market-Square, 
every  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Saturday,  at  10  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  arrives  at  New- York  every  Friday,  Monday  and 
Wednesday,  at  i  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  :  leaves  New- York  every 
Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Saturday,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  arrives  at  Boston  every  Friday,  Monday  and  Wednesday,  at 
i  o'clock  in  the  ifternoon. 

LEOMINSTER  Mail  Stage  passes  through  Concord  and  Lan- 
caster, to  Leominster ;  sets  off  from  James  Clark's  tavern,  White 
Lion,  No.  23,  Newbury-Street,  every  Wednesday  and  Saturday,  at 
5  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  Leominster  the  same 
days  :  leaves  Leominster  every  Monday  and  Thursday,  at  5  o'clock 
in  the  morning  and  arrives  in  Boston  the  same  days. 

PORTSMOUTH  Mail  Stage  passes  through  Salem,  and  New- 
bury-Port ;  sets  off  from  King's  inn,  Market- Square,  every 
Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday,  at  3  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and  arrives  at  Portsmouth  the  same  days,  at  6  o'clock  in  the 
evening  :  leaves  Portsmouth  every  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Sat- 
urday, at  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  in  Boston  the 
same  days,  at  6  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

AMHERST  Mail  Stage  passes  through  Billerica ;  sets  off  from 
King's  inn,  Market-Square,  every  Wednesday  morning,  at  4  o'clock, 
and  arrives  at  Amherst  at  7  o'clock  in  the  evening,  the  same  day : 
leaves  Amherst  every  Monday,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
arrives  in  Boston  at  7  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  same  day. 

PROVIDENCE  Stage  sets  off  from  King^s  inn  every  day  in  the 
week  (Sundays  excepted)  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives 
at  Providence  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

PLYMOUTH  Mail  Stage  passes  through  Hingham  ;  sets  off 
from  King's  inn,  Market-Square,  every  Tuesday,  Thursday  and 
Saturday,  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  Plymouth 
the  same  days,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  :  leaves  Plymouth 


ON   THE   ROAD  289 

every  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday,  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, and  arrives  in  Boston  the  same  days,  at  4  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon. 

SALEM  Mail  Stage  sets  off  from  King's  inn,  Market-Square, 
every  day  in  the  week  (Sundays  excepted)  at  3  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  and  arrives  in  Boston  every  day,  at  1 1  o'clock  in  the 
morning. 

MARBLE  HEAD  Stage  sets  off  from  King's  inn,  Market- 
Square,  and  returns  the  same  as  Salem  stage. 

TAUNTON  and  NEW-BEDFORD  Mail  Stage  sets  off  from 
King's  inn,  Market-Square,  every  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Satur- 
day, at  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  Taunton  at  1 2 
o'clock,  and  at  New-Bedford  at  6  o'clock  the  same  evening : 
leaves  New-Bedford  every  Monday,  Wednesday  and  Friday,  at 
3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  Boston  the  same  days,  at 
6  o'clock  in  the  evening. 

DORCHESTER  and  MILTON  Stage  sets  off  every  day  from 
King's  inn,  Market-Square,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and 
arrives  in  Boston  every  day,  at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

CAPE-ANN  Stage  passes  through  Salem  and  Beverly;  sets 
off  from  the  Yankee  Hero  tavern,  Wing's- Lane,  every  Wednesday 
and  Saturday,  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  the  same 
days  at  Cape- Ann :  leaves  Cape-Ann  every  Tuesday  and  Friday, 
and  arrives  in  Boston  the  samej  days,  at  4  o'clock. 

MEDFORD  Stage  sets  off  every  day  (Sundays  excepted)  from 
Mr.  Patterson's  tavern,  Wing's-Lane,  at  12  o'clock,  and  arrives 
in  Boston  every  day,  at  8  o'clock  in  the  morning.  N.  B.  Sets 
off  and  returns  twice  every  Saturday. 

NEWBURY-PORT  Stage  sets  off  from  Mr.  Evans's  tavern, 
Ann-Street,  every  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Saturday,  at  5  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  Newbury-Port  at  4  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon,  same  day  :  leaves  that  place  every  Monday,  Wednes- 
day and  Friday,  at  6  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  in  Boston 
the  same  days,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

HAVERHILL  Stage  passes  through  Andover ;  sets  off  from 
Mr.  Evans's  tavern,  Ann-Street,  every  Monday,  Wednesday  and 

19 


2QO         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Friday,  at  3  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  Haverhill  at 
ii  o'clock,  same  days:  leaves  Haverhill  at  10  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  every  Tuesday,  Thursday  and  Saturday,  and  arrives  in 
Boston  at  7  o'clock  in  the  evening,  same  days. 

SALEM  Stage  sets  off  from  Israel  Hatch's  coffee-house,  corner 
of  Exchange- Lane,  State-Street,  every  morning  (Sundays  ex- 
cepted)  at  8  o'clock,  and  arrives  at  Salem  at  n  o'clock  :  leaves 
that  place  at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  arrives  in  Boston  at 
6  o'clock. 

GROTON  Stage  sets  off  from  King's  inn,  Market-Square,  every 
Wednesday,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  at  Groton 
at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  same  day  :  leaves  Groton  every 
Monday,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  arrives  in  Boston  at 
6  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  same  day. 

CAMBRIDGE  Stage  sets  off  from  the  old  State-house,  Corn- 
hill,  twice  every  day  (Sundays  excepted)  at  12  o'clock,  noon, 
and  at  6  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  :  arrives  in  Boston  at  10  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

ROXBURY  and  BROOKLINE  Stage  sets  off  and  arrives  at 
the  same  place  and  hours  as  Cambridge  Stage. 

WATERTOWN  Stage  sets  off  from  the  old  State-House,  Corn- 
hill,  every  day  (Sundays  excepted)  at  5  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
and  arrives  in  Boston  every  day,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

DEDHAM  Stage  starts  from  King's  inn  every  day  in  the  week 
(Sundays  excepted)  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  arrives  in 
Boston  the  same  days,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

QUINCY  Stage  sets  off  from  King's  inn  every  Tuesday, 
Thursday  and  Saturday,  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  arrives 
in  Boston  the  same  days,  at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

CANTON  Stage  sets  off  from  King's  Inn  every  Tuesday, 
Thursday  and  Saturday,  at  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  arrives 
in  Boston  the  same  days,  at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

We  are  familiar  with  the  general  idea  that  facilities  for 
transportation  have  improved  wonderfully  within  a  hun- 
dred years ;  but  it  is  after  all  a  little  startling  to  consider 


ON  THE   ROAD  29 1 

that  the  modest  list  just  printed  is  a  complete  time-table  of 
all  the  lines  running  from  Boston  in  1801.  We  may  com- 
pare it  at  our  leisure  with  the  voluminous  railroad  schedules 
of  the  present  day. 

The  American  stagecoaches  were  so  different  from  the 
English  that  almost  every  visitor  from  the  mother  country 
described  them  at  length.  Out  of  an  embarrassing  number 
of  such  descriptions  three  may  be  selected,  —  dating  from 
1795,  1806,  and  1833  respectively.  The  first  is  from  the 
pen  of  Thomas  Twining,  and  refers  to  his  journey  from 
Philadelphia  to  Baltimore  in  1795  :  — 

At  ten  this  morning  the  negro  girl  took  my  portmanteau  under 
her  arm,  and  accompanied  me  to  the  mail-wagon  office.  At 
half-past  ten  the  wagon  started  up  High  Street,  passing  before  the 
window  of  Dr.  Priestley.  The  vehicle  was  a  long  car  with  four 
benches.  Three  of  these  in  the  interior  held  nine  passengers, 
and  a  tenth  passenger  was  seated  by  the  side  of  the  driver  on  the 
front  bench.  A  light  roof  was  supported  by  eight  slender  pillars, 
four  on  each  side.  Three  large  leather  curtains  suspended  to 
the  roof,  one  at  each  side  and  the  third  behind,  were  rolled  up 
or  lowered  at  the  pleasure  of  the  passengers.  There  was  no  space 
nor  place  for  luggage,  each  person  being  expected  to  stow  his 
things  as  he  could  under  his  seat  or  legs.  The  entrance  was  in 
front,  over  the  driver's  bench.  Of  course  the  three  passengers 
on  the  back  seat  were  obliged  to  crawl  across  all  the  other 
benches  to  get  to  their  places.  There  were  no  backs  to  the 
benches  to  support  and  relieve  us  during  a  rough  and  fatiguing 
journey  over  a  newly  and  ill  made  road.  It  would  be  unreason- 
able to  expect  perfection  in  the  arrangements  of  a  new  country ; 
but  though  this  rude  conveyance  was  not  without  its  advantages, 
and  was  really  more  suitable  to  the  existing  state  of  American 
roads  than  an  English  stage-coach  would  have  been,  it  might 
have  been  rendered  more  convenient  in  some  respects  without 
much  additional  expense.  Thus  a  mere  strap  behind  the  seats 
would  have  been  a  great  comfort,  and  the  ponderous  leather 


2Q2         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

curtains,  which  extended  the  whole  length  of  the  wagon,  would 
have  been  much  more  convenient  divided  into  two  or  three  parts, 
and  with  a  glass,  however  small,  in  each  division  to  give  light  to 
the  passengers  in  bad  weather,  and  enable  them  to  have  a  glimpse 
of  the  country.  The  disposal  of  the  luggage  also  was  extremely 
incommodious,  not  only  to  the  owner,  but  to  his  neighbors.  We 
were  quite  full,  having  ten  passengers  besides  the  driver.1 

Our  second  example  is  from  Melish's  Travels,  and  has 
to  do  with  intercourse  between  Boston  and  New  York  in 
1806: — 

Having  taken  my  leave  of  a  number  of  kind  friends,  with 
whom  I  had  associated  during  my  stay  in  Boston,  I  engaged  a 
passage  by  the  mail  stage  for  New  York,  and  was  called  to  take 
my  place  on  the  4th  of  September,  at  2  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
It  is  the  practice  here  for  the  driver  to  call  on  the  passengers 
before  setting  out,  and  it  is  attended  with  a  considerable  degree 
of  convenience  to  them,  particularly  when  they  set  out  early  in 
the  morning.  The  mail  stages  here  are  altogether  different  in 
construction  from  the  mail  coaches  in  Britain.  They  are  long 
machines,  hung  upon  leather  braces,  with  three  seats  across,  of 
a  sufficient  length  to  accommodate  three  persons  each,  who  all 
sit  with  their  faces  towards  the  horses.  The  driver  sits  under 
cover,  without  any  division  between  him  and  the  passengers ; 
and  there  is  room  for  a  person  to  sit  on  each  side  of  him.  The 
driver,  by  the  post-office  regulations,  must  be  a  white  man,  and 
he  has  the  charge  of  the  mail,  which  is  placed  in  a  box  below  his 
seat.  There  is  no  guard.  The  passengers'  luggage  is  put  below 
the  seats,  or  tied  on  behind  the  stage.  They  put  nothing  on  the 
top,  and  they  take  no  outside  passengers.  The  stages  are  slightly 
built,  and  the  roof  suspended  on  pillars ;  with  a  curtain,  to  be 
let  down  or  folded  up  at  pleasure.  The  conveyance  is  easy,  and  in 
summer  very  agreeable ;  but  it  must  be  excessively  cold  in  winter.2 

1  Travels  in  America  100  Years  Ago,  being  Notes  and  Reminiscences  by 
Thomas  Twining,  New  York,  1894,  pp.  58-60. 

2  John  Melish.  Travels  in  the  United  States  of  America,  Philadelphia, 
1812,  I,  io&. 


ON  THE   ROAD  293 

For  our  third  description  we  are  indebted  to  Abdy,  the 
Oxonian,  who  is  telling  what  happened  to  him  in  New 
England  in  1833:  - 

I  left  Northampton  on  the  i6th,  at  three,  A.M.,  for  Boston, 
and  arrived  at  that  place  about  eight  in  the  evening.  The  road 
was  good  ;  and,  if  we  had  not  changed  our  vehicle  three  times 
during  the  journey,  and  stopped  at  the  various  post-offices  for 
the  bags,  and  at  the  hotels  for  refreshment,  we  should  have  got 
in  much  sooner.  The  first  fifteen  miles  were  performed  in  an 
hour  and  forty  minutes.  The  distance  is  ninety-four  miles.  The 
passengers  were  inclined  to  be  sociable ;  and,  as  it  was  a  fine 
day,  and  the  country  not  uninteresting,  the  journey  passed  off 
pleasantly  enough.  An  English  coachman  would  have  been 
somewhat  amused  with  the  appearance  of  the  stage  and  the  cos- 
tume of  the  driver.  The  former  was  similar  to  some  that  are 
common  enough  'in  France,  though  not  known  on  our  side  of  the 
channel.  It  was  on  leathern  springs ;  the  boot  and  the  hind 
part  being  appropriated  to  the  luggage,  while  the  box  was  occu- 
pied by  two  passengers  in  addition  to  the  "  conducteur,"  and  as 
many  on  the  roof.  On  the  top,  secured  by  an  iron  rail,  were 
some  of  the  trunks  and  boxes,  and  inside  were  places  for  nine ; 
two  seats  being  affixed  to  the  ends,  and  one,  parallel  to  them, 
across  the  middle  of  the  carriage.  Our  driver  sat  between  two 
of  the  outsides,  and  when  there  was  but  one  on  the  box,  over  the 
near  wheeler ;  and  holding  the  reins,  or  lines,  as  he  called  them, 
in  such  a  manner  as  to  separate  his  team  into  couples,  not  a-breast, 
but  in  a  line  or  tandem  fashion,  drove  along  with  considerable 
skill  and  dexterity.  When  he  got  down,  he  fastened  the  "  ribbons" 
to  a  ring,  or  a  post  in  front  of  the  house  where  he  had  occasion 
to  pull  up.1 

In  the  less  thickly  settled  parts  of  the  country  the 
stagecoach  gave  way  to  the  "  stage-wagon."  This  was 

1  E.  S.  Abdy,  Journal  of  a  Residence  and  Tour  in  the  United  States  from 
April,  1833,  to  October,  1834,  London,  1835,  I,  118-19. 


294      THE  °LD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

a  primitive  contrivance,  "a  mere  cart  with  four  wheels," 
one  traveller  calls  it,  —  and  was  usually  drawn  by  two 
horses.  Chairs  were  sometimes  used  as  seats,  but  there 
were  not  always  enough  to  go  round.  Not  infrequently 
the  passenger  had  to  sit  on  his  own  baggage.  Lambert, 
who  toured  about  the  United  States  and  Canada  from  1806 
to  1808,  grows  eloquent  in  discoursing  of  the  discomforts 
of  these  vehicles.  He  is  describing  his  trip  from  Burlington, 
Vermont,  to  St.  Albans:  — 

I  had  a  most  uncomfortable  seat  in  the  hind  part  of  the  waggon 
upon  the  mail  bag,  and  other  goods.  I  might,  indeed,  have  sat 
in  front  along  with  the  driver,  but  my  legs  would  have  been 
cramped  between  a  large  chest,  and  the  fore  part  of  the  waggon. 
Of  two  evils,  I  chose  the  least :  but  I  shall  never  forget  the 
shaking,  jolting,  jumbling,  and  tossing,  which  I  experienced  over 
this  disagreeable  road,  up  and  down  steep  hills,  which  obliged 
me  to  alight,  (for  we  had  only  two  poor  jaded  horses  to  drag 
us)  and  fag  through  the  sand  and  dust,  exposed  to  a  burning 
sun.  When  we  got  into  our  delectable  vehicle  again,  our  situation 
was  just  as  bad;  for  the  road  in  many  parts  was  continually 
obstructed  by  large  stones ;  stumps  of  trees,  and  fallen  timber ; 
deep  ruts  and  holes,  over  which,  to  use  an  American  phrase,  we 
were  waggoned  most  unmercifully.1 

The  different  modes  of  conveyance  required  on  a  long 
journey  may  be  seen  in  the  itinerary  of  Dr.  Jeremy  Belknap, 
who  went  from  Boston  to  Niagara,  in  1796,  to  inspect  the 
mission  conducted  among  the  Oneida  Indians  by  the 
Society  for  Propagating  Christian  Knowledge.  He  was  ab- 
sent not  quite  one  month,  for  he  left  Boston  on  the  ninth 
of  June  and  reached  home  on  the  sixth  of  July.  Here 
is  his  time-table,  drawn  up  in  brief  form  by  the  Doctor 
himself,  who  was  one  of  the  most  accurate  of  men :  — 

1  John  Lambert,  Travels  through  Lower  Canada  and  the  United  States 
of  North  America,  London,  1810,  III,  488. 


ON  THE   ROAD  295 

Memorandum  of  distances  and  modes  of  travelling 
from  Boston  to  Niagara. 

In  the  stage,  which  sets  out  from  Boston  on  Monday  and 
Thursday  mornings,  you  go  the 

miles. 

first  day  to  Brookfield       .........       66 

second  day  to  Northampton      .......       34 

third  day  to  Pittsfield        .........       40 

fourth  day  to  Albany  ..........       40 

-  1  80 

Here  you  may  rest,  and  from  hence  proceed  on  any  day,  fore- 
noon or  afternoon,  to  Schenectada  ......  16 

Thence  you  may  go  either  in  the  stage-wagon  by  land,  or  in 
boats  up  the  Mohawk  River.  The  former  is  accomplished  in 
less  time  than  the  latter.  The  stage  goes  every  Tuesday  and 
Friday  morning  — 

the  first  day  to  Canajohara   ........       40 

the  second  to  Whites-town    ........       46 

-  102 

Here  the  stage  ends. 

From  Whites-town  to  Fort  Stanwix  is  a  wagon-road,  and  wagons 

may  be  hired    .............       12 

Fort  Stanwix  is  situate  on  the  upper  waters  of  Mohawk  River, 

from  which  is  a  portage  to  Wood  Creek,  where  a  Canal  is  now 

making    ...............          2 

Thence  by  water,  down  Wood  Creek  to  Oneida  Lake       2  7 
Across  Oneida  Lake  to  Fort  Bruington    ....       35 

Down  the  river  to  Oswego  Falls      ......       12 

Portage     150    feet.      Thence    to     Oswego    Fort    on     Lake 

Ontario   ...............       12 

Thence  through  the  lake  to  Niagara         .     .     .     .     160 

-  260 


The  connection  between  stage  lines  was  often  uncertain, 
—  still  more  so  was  that  between  stage  and  packet.     At 

i   Proc.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  XIX,  422-3. 


296      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Providence,  in  1806,  it  was  the  rule  that  if  the  New  York 
packet  brought  three  passengers  for  Boston,  the  stage  was 
"  bound  to  go  with  them  at  any  hour."  l  Local  stages  often 
picked  up  their  passengers  at  the  houses,  —  an  accommodat- 
ing habit  which  rendered  the  hour  of  departure  inconstant. 
Through  stages  that  were  unhampered  by  connecting 
lines  of  traffic  often  made  good  time,  especially  if  there 
were  competing  lines.  Israel  Hatch's  daily  stages  from 
Boston  to  Providence,  established  about  1793,  covered 
the  distance  between  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  two 
in  the  afternoon,  changing  horses  once,  at  the  half-way 
house  in  Walpole.  The  fare  was  one  dollar,2  but  this  was 
a  cut-rate,  expressly  advertised  as  "  one  half  the  custo- 
mary price,  and  33.  cheaper  than  any  other  stage."  In 
1811  the  stage  ride  from  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg,  two 
hundred  and  ninety-seven  miles,  took  six  days;  a  wagon 
required  about  twenty  days.  Stage  fare  was  twenty 
dollars ;  wagon  fare,  "  five  dollars  per  cwt.  for  both  per- 
sons and  property."  3  The  faster  stages  were  often  deco- 
rated with  such  hyperbolical  titles  as  "  Flying  Machine  " 
and  "  Flying  Mail."  The  famous  Telegraph  Line  from 
Boston  to  Albany  was  in  1831  operated  under  a  contract 
which  bound  the  drivers  to  make  seven  miles  an  hour  on 
the  average,  day  and  night,  including  stops.4 

Naturally  journeys  of  any  length  were  planned  a  good 
while  beforehand,  and  intending  travellers  were  always  on 
the  watch  for  casual  means  of  conveyance.  Their  alert 
attitude  is  well  exemplified  in  the  following  typical 
advertisement,  from  a  Philadelphia  newspaper  of  1777:  — 
"  A  person  wants  to  go  to  Boston  and  would  be  glad  of  a 
place  in  a  chaise  or  wagon  going  there,  or  if  only  half  the 

1  Melish,  Travels,  Philadelphia,  1812,  I,  80. 

2  Edward  Field,  The  Colonial  Tavern,  Providence,  1897,  p.  273. 

3  Melish,  II,  52. 

4  F.  M.  Thompson,  History  of  Greenfield,  Mass.,  1904,  pp.  976-7. 


ON  THE   ROAD  297 

way  on  that  road,  and  a  genteel  price  will  be  given.  Any 
this  will  suit  will  be  waited  on  by  leaving  a  line  with  the 
printer."  l 

Our  foreign  visitors  were  better  pleased  with  our  sleighs, 
which  to  most  of  them  were  complete  novelties,  than  with 
our  stagecoaches  and  wagons.  "  No  carriage,"  writes  one 
just  before  the  Revolution,  "  goes  with  so  easy  a  motion  as 
these  sleighs  do,  having  none  of  the  jolting  motion  of  a 
wheel-carriage ;  but  much  resembling  the  motion  of  what 
we  used  to  call  a  shuggie-shew,  or  a  vessel  before  a  fine 
wind."2  The  same  authority  was  much  struck  with  the 
American  custom  of  sleigh-riding  for  pleasure.  "  The 
young  ladies  and  gentlemen,"  he  says,  "  are  so  fond  of 
this,  as  a  diversion,  that  whenever  the  snow  gives  over 
falling,  tho'  it  be  after  sun-set,  they  will  not  wait  till  next 
day,  but  have  their  sleigh  yoked  directly,  and  drive  about 
without  the  least  fear  of  catching  cold  from  the  night 
air."  3 

The  earliest  agitation  for  railroads  in  New  England  con- 
templated particularly  the  establishment  of  lines  on  which 
freight  should  be  transported  by  means  of  horses.  The 
Quincy  Railroad,  finished  in  1827,  was  of  this  kind;  it 
was  only  a  few  miles  in  length  and  was  used  to  carry 
granite  from  the  quarries  to  tidewater.  In  1829,  William 
Jackson,  in  a  lecture  before  the  Massachusetts  Charitable 
Mechanic  Association,  gave  much  space  to  showing  what 
loads  could  be  drawn  by  a  horse  on  a  railroad  in  comparison 
with  the  work  that  he  could  do  on  an  ordinary  turnpike.4 
He  was,  however,  fully  cognizant  of  the  experiments  that 

1  Pennsylvania   Evening   Post,  September  4,   1777,   quoted  in  Potter's 
American  Monthly,  IV,  307. 

2  Patrick    M'Robert,    Tour   through    Part   of  the   North    Provinces   of 
America,  Edinburgh,  1776,  p.  47. 

3  The  same,  p.  46. 

*  William  Jackson,  Lecture  on  Rail  Roads,  delivered  January  12,  1829, 
Boston,  1829,  pp.  ii  ff. 


298  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

had  been  tried  with  locomotives,  and  believed,  though  he 
expressed  himself  cautiously,  that  steam  would  soon  super- 
sede horsepower.  At  this  time  the  enthusiasm  for  a  line 
from  Boston  to  Albany  was  great,  and  Jackson's  address 
was  meant  to  further  the  project.  A  large  part  of  the 
route  had  already  been  surveyed  at  public  expense,  and 
it  was  hoped  that  the  undertaking  would  be  fathered  by 
the  State.  There  was  much  scornful  incredulity,  however, 
which  found  utterance  in  various  amusing  ways.  In  1827 
Captain  Basil  Hall,  whose  Travels  in  America  is  deservedly 
celebrated  for  its  intelligence  and  good-humor,  went  over 
a  considerable  part  of  the  route  between  Boston  and 
Albany.  He  was  assured,  he  tells  us,  that  it  had  been 
"  seriously  proposed  "  to  connect  these  two  cities  by  rail, 
but  this  he  characterizes  as  a  "  visionary  project."  Ap- 
peals were  frequently  made  to  him  to  admire  the  plan. 
"  I  was  compelled  to  admit,"  he  says,  "  that  there  was 
much  boldness  in  the  conception;  but  I  took  the  liberty 
of  adding,  that  I  conceived  the  boldness  lay  in  the  concep- 
tion alone ;  for,  if  it  were  executed,  its  character  would  be 
changed  into  madness."  1 

Captain  Hall's  language  is  moderation  itself  in  compari- 
son with  some  of  the  strictures  of  the  Massachusetts  press. 
In  June,  1827,  there  appeared  in  the  Boston  Courier  a 
satirical  article  from  the  pen  of  the  editor,  Joseph  T. 
Buckingham,  which  ridiculed  the  "  railroad  mania  "  un- 
sparingly :  — 

Alcibiades,  or  some  other  great  man  of  antiquity,  it  is  said,  cut 
off  his  dog's  tail,  that  quid  nuncs  (we  suppose  such  animals  existed 
in  ancient  as  well  as  in  modern  times)  might  not  become  extinct 
for  want  of  excitement.  Some  such  motive,  we  doubt  not, 
moved  one  or  two  of  our  natural  and  experimental  philosophers 
to  get  up  the  project  of  a  railroad  from  Boston  to  Albany ;  —  a 

1  Travels  in  North  America  in  the  years  1827  and  1828,  Edinburgh,  1829, 
II,  93- 


ON  THE   ROAD  299 

project,  which  every  one  knows,  —  who  knows  the  simplest  rules 
in  arithmetic,  —  to  be  impracticable  but  at  an  expense  little  less 
than  the  market  value  of  the  whole  territory  of  Massachusetts ; 
and  which,  if  practicable,  every  person  of  common  sense  knows 
would  be  as  useless  as  a  railroad  from  Boston  to  the  Moon. 
Indeed,  a  road  of  some  kind  from  here  to  the  heart  of  that  beau- 
tiful satellite  of  our  dusky  planet  would  be  of  some  practical 
utility,  —  especially,  if  a  few  of  our  notional,  public-spirited  men, 
our  railway  fanatics,  could  be  persuaded  to  pay  a  visit  to  their 
proper  country.1 

Mr.  Buckingham,  however,  was  speedily  converted. 
Within  a  year,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  he  joined  in  a  petition 
to  the  legislature  for  a  road  from  Boston  to  Ogdensburg.2 

In  1831  the  Farmer's  Almanack  contains  a  significant 
item.  It  had  long  included  a  full-page  Map  of  New  Eng- 
land to  illustrate  the  List  of  Stage  Routes  which  was 
an  indispensable  feature  of  every  such  annual.  In  the 
year  mentioned,  the  list  is  accompanied  by  the  following 
paragraph :  — 

Rail  Roads.  The  direction  of  the  several  rail  road  routes 
which  have  been  proposed,  leading  from  Boston,  may  be  under- 
stood by  reference  to  the  following  map.  The  principal  routes  are 
i.  from  Boston  through  Framingham,  Worcester,  Springfield,  and 
Pittsfield,  to  Albany.  2.  From  Boston  through  Waltham,  and 
Fitchburg  to  Brattleborough.  3.  From  Boston  to  Lowell,  thence 
through  Concord  and  Montpelier  to  Burlington,  and  thence 
westerly  to  Ogdensburg.  4. .  From  Boston  to  Providence. 

The  railroads,  like  the  stage  routes,  are  not  marked  in 
Mr.  Thomas's  map. 

1  Joseph  T.  Buckingham,  Personal  Memoirs  and  Recollections  of  Edi- 
torial Life,  Boston,  1852,  II,  15. 

2  The  same,  II,  16. 


3<DO  THE   OLD    FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

1831  was  the  decisive  year  for  New  England  railroading. 
The  Boston  and  Providence  and  the  Boston  and  Worcester 
Railroads  were  incorporated,  and  these  two  companies,  as 
well  as  the  Boston  and  Lowell,  which  had  received  a 
charter  in  1830,  were  definitely  organized.  Active  con- 
struction was  begun  without  delay,  and  in  1834  and  1835 
all  three  roads  were  opened  to  public  travel.1 

The  first  experiment  with  a  locomotive  in  New  England 
was  made  on  the  Boston  and  Worcester  road,  then  com- 
pleted as  far  as  Newton,  on  March  i/th,  1834.  On  the 
fourth  of  April  the  new  invention  was  put  to  practical 
use.  The  event  is  thus  reported  in  the  Boston  Patriot  for 
April  5th:  - 

A  Locomotive  Engine  was  yesterday  employed  in  hauling 
gravel  on  the  Boston  &  Worcester  Rail  Road.  The  engine 
worked  with  ease,  was  perfectly  manageable,  and  showed  power 
enough  to  travel  at  any  desirable  speed.  The  distance  traveled 
was  about  three  miles,  and  the  train  usually  traversed  this  dis- 
tance, both  with  loaded  and  with  empty  cars,  in  about  ten 
minutes,  the  engine  blowing  off  waste  steam  a  great  part  of  the 
time,  and  evidently  capable  of  carrying  a  much  greater  load,  or 
moving  with  greater  rapidity. 

Regular  passenger  service  between  Boston  and  Newton 
began  on  May  i6th,  with  three  trains  a  day  in  either 
direction,  "  leaving  Boston  at  6  and  10  A.  M.,  and  3.30  P.  M. 
and  returning  at  7  and  11.15  A.  M.  and  4.45  p.  M.  The  fare 
was  37^  cents.  .  .  .  The  trip  was  at  first  made  in  nineteen 
minutes,  but  this  was  thought  to  be  faster  than  necessary, 

1  Nathan  Hale,  in  an  article  on  the  Massachusetts  Railway  System  in  the 
Boston  Advertiser,  September,  17,  18,  19,  1851,  as  reprinted  in  —  The  Rail- 
road Jubilee  :  an  Account  of  the  Celebration  Commemorative  of  the  Opening 
of  Railroad  Communication  between  Boston  and  Canada,  September  I7th, 
i8th,  and  igth,  1851.  Boston,  1852,  p.  233. 


ON  THE   ROAD  30 1 

and  by  a  vote  of  the  directors  the  engineers  were  required 
to  increase  the  time  to  thirty  minutes,  or  at  the  rate  of 
about  eighteen  miles  an  hour."  The  first  cars  were  similar 
in  design  to  the  English  railway  coach,  box  cars  not  being 
adopted  until  several  years  later.1  In  1835  an  English 
visitor  was  able  to  record  that  there  was  now  "  very  speedy 
communication  "  between  Boston  and  New  York  by  way  of 
Providence, — the  distance  "being  performed  in  twenty 
hours,  by  rail-road  and  steam-boat."  The  same  writer 
was  a  good  deal  impressed  by  the  expenditure  of  "  some 
thousands  of  dollars  "  to  clear  the  tracks  of  the  Boston 
and  Lowell  road  from  a  single  fall  of  snow.2 

Even  when  railroading  was  well  under  way,  there  was 
considerable  doubt  in  the  minds  of  many  as  to  its  ad- 
vantages to  agriculture.  The  Almanac  for  1837  gives 
expression  to  these  scruples  in  a  little  sketch  of  a  disap- 
pointed farmer  who  had  built  high  hopes  on  the  new 
enterprise  :  — 

All  for  the  railway  —  and,  to  be  sure,  it  is  a  very  clever  thing, 
but  not  altogether  so  for  farmer  Credulous  as  he  imagined  that  it 
would  be.  It  was  laid  out  straight  through  his  valuable  and 
beautiful  farm.  He  thought  it  would  certainly  improve  it  full 
five  hundred  fold.  But  he  reckoned  up  his  chickens  and  counted 
them  all  off,  not  only  before  they  were  hatched,  but  even  before 
the  nest  was  made.  Here  was  an  extensive,  level  plain,  where, 
it  was  tho't,  the  rail-cars  would  skim  beautifully  for  miles  upon  the 
surface.  "  You  are  welcome,"  said  Credulous,  "  to  pass  through  my 
land  ;  "  and  so  they  held  him  to  the  bargain,  and  cut  thirty  feet 
deep  through  the  centre  the  whole  length  of  his  farm!  This  was 
a  woful  speculation  for  my  old  friend  Creddy.  He  now  execrates 
all  railways,  turnpikes,  canals,  and  internal  improvements,  without 
distinction,  and  considers  them  but  gull-traps  for  the  unwary. 

1  B.  T.  Hill,  Proceedings  of  the  Worcester  Society  of  Antiquity,  XVII, 

549-51- 

2  Harriet  Martineau,  Society  in  America,  London,  1837,  II,  186. 


302  THE    OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

When  a  man  gets  a  good  farm,  and  is  able  to  carry  it  on,  let  him 
think  himself  well  off.  Should  he  have  a  little  cash  on  hand,  it  will 
be  convenient  enough ;  but  it  is  unfortunate  if  he  gives  heed  to 
every  speculation  story  that  is  told,  and  is  willing  to  be  flattered 
into  a  belief  that  he  is  to  be  enriched  by  every  stone  that  is 
turned,  and  by  every  new  project  and  plan.  (October,  1837.) 

The  prejudice  against  railroads  entertained  by  a  good 
many  people  in  New  England  died  hard.  As  late  as  1842 
the  inhabitants  of  Dorchester  voted,  in  town-meeting,  that 
a  railroad  on  either  of  two  proposed  lines  "  will  be  of  incal- 
culable evil  to  the  town  generally,  in  addition  to  the 
immense  sacrifice  of  private  property  which  will  also  be 
involved.  A  great  portion  of  the  road  will  lead  through 
thickly  settled  and  populous  parts  of  the  town,  crossing 
and  running  contiguous  to  public  highways,  and  thereby 
making  a  permanent  obstruction  to  a  free  intercourse  of 
our  citizens,  and  creating  great  and  enduring  danger  and 
hazard  to  all  travel  upon  the  common  roads."  Further 
they  declared  that,  if  a  railroad  must  be  built,  "  it  should 
be  located  upon  the  marshes  and  over  creeks,"  and  finally 
it  was  — 

Resolved,  That  our  representatives  be  instructed  to  use  their 
utmost  endeavors  to  prevent,  if  possible,  so  great  a  calamity  to 
our  town  as  must  be  the  location  of  any  rail-road  through  it; 
and,  if  that  cannot  be  prevented,  to  diminish  this  calamity  as 
far  as  possible  by  confining  the  location  to  the  route  herein 
designated.1 

In  1841  Mr.  Thomas  first  inserted  railroads  into  his  Map  of 
New  England,  thus  admitting  them  to  a  kind  of  parity  with 
the  stage  routes  which  the  map  was  meant  to  illustrate. 
(See  opposite  page.) 

1  Josiah  Quincy,  Figures  of  the  Past,  Boston,  1883,  p.  348. 


A.TI,ANT1  C 

ewburyport 

.peAtux 


ON  THE   ROAD  303 

In  1844  the  Almanac  gives  a  table  exhibiting  the  twelve 
hundred  miles  of  railroad  connected  with  Boston  :  — 

TABLE, 

Showing  the  length  of  Railway  radiating  from,  and  in  connection 
with,  the  City  of  Boston. 

Miles. 

From  Boston,  via  Albany,  to  Buffalo,     .......  518 

"         "         "    Portsmouth,  to  Portland,     .....  104 

"         "        "    Lowell,  Nashua,  Concord,        .     .     .     „  62 

"         "        to  Providence,        .........  41 

"         Providence  to  Stonington,  ........  47 

Branch  from  Wilmington  to  Dover,  N.  H.,     .     .     .     .     .  44 

Dedham  branch,       ..........     <  2 

Taunton  branch,  and  extension  to  New  Bedford,     ...  35 

Bedford  and  Fall  River,     .......     „     .     .     .  13 

Norwich  and  Worcester,     ...........  58^- 

New  Haven  to  Hartford,  36,  and  extension  to  Springfield, 

24  miles,  all  not  completed,  but  in  a  fair  way,  .     .  60 

West  Stockbridge  to  Bridgeport,       ........  98 

West  Stockbridge  to  Hudson,      .........  33 

Troy  to  Schenectady,    ............  22 

Troy  to  Ballston,      .............  20 

Schenectady  and  Saratoga,      ..........  21 

Lockport,  Niagara  Falls,  and  Buffalo,   .......  43 


In  1845  there  appears,  along  with  the  old  Table  of  Roads, 
a  list  of  "  Towns,  &c.  passed  through  by  Railroads  from 
Boston,  with  the  distances  of  the  various  stations  from  that 
city  "  ;  but  it  occupies  only  a  quarter  of  the  space  required 
by  its  venerable  rival.  In  1846  the  old  list  of  stage  roads, 
which  had  been  a  feature  of  the  Almanac  for  more  than 
fifty  years,  was  dropped,  as  no  longer  valuable  enough  to 
pay  for  the  space  which  it  occupied.  The  railroad  had 
conquered. 


3O4  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

The  Road  Lists  just  referred  to,  which  came  out  year  by 
year  in  the  Almanac  from  1793  to  1845,  are  of  consider- 
able interest  in  more  ways  than  one.  That  for  1802  is 
reproduced  below,  in  what  is  practically  a  facsimile  of  the 
original  typography.  The  system  of  inland  communica- 
tion, we  observe,  was  well  developed.  It  extended  from 
Quebec  to  Savannah,  and  from  the  Atlantic  coast  to  the 
Ohio.  The  post-road  from  Boston  to  Savannah  covered 
more  than  twelve  hundred  miles.  From  Fishkill,  New 
York,  to  the  Ohio  was  four  hundred  and  twenty-nine  miles, 
and  then  one  might  continue,  in  the  words  of  the  Almanac, 
"  down  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum  "  ninety- 
five  miles  farther.  The  stations,  if  we  may  give  them 
that  name,  on  the  Ohio  road,  have  more  than  once  a 
suggestion  of  romance,  or,  at  all  events,  of  wild  life  and 
pioneering.  We  met  with  such  designations  as  "  Clark's 
Gap,"  "  Over  the  Blue  Mountain  to  Skinner's,"  "  Fork  of 
the  old  Pennsylvania  and  Glade  Roads,"  "  Shumral's  Ferry 
at  the  Youghiegany  River,  or  Bud's  Ferry,  2  miles  further 
up,"  and,  best  of  all,  "  Over  the  Path  Valley  and  Tusca- 
rora  Mountains  to  the  Burnt  Cabins."  The  tavern  at  the 
"  foot  of  Skillinghill "  was  kept  by  a  Mr.  Panther. 

The  mention  of  "  those  who  keep  Houses  of  Entertain- 
ment "  lends  especial  value  to  these  Road  Lists.  The  New 
Englander  will  recognize  a  host  of  familiar  surnames  and 
many  inns  that  were  famous  enough  in  their  day.  He 
may  even  encounter  some  of  his  own  ancestors,  and  he 
will  at  all  events  make  the  acquaintance  of  quasi-public 
functionaries  to  whom  his  forefathers  were  indebted  for 
substantial  good  cheer.  It  might  be  invidious  to  distinguish 
particular  hostelries,  but  it  can  do  no  harm  to  point  out, 
opposite  "  Dedham,"  the  significant  word  "  Ames,"  which 
reminds  us  of  the  Sun  tavern  which  the  old  doctor  adver- 
tised so  successfully  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth 
century  (see  p.  264  above). 


ROADS 

To  the  principal  Towns  on  the  Continent,  from  Bofton,  with 

the  Names  of  thofe  who  keep  Houfes  of  Entertainment. 

^Jp^  The  Author  of  this  Almanack  -will  be  greatly  obliged  to  any  Gentleman 

for  a  cor  re  ft  Lift  of  the  Innkeepers,  Diftances,  &*c.  on  any  Poft-Road  herein 

mentioned,  fealed  up  and  lodged  at  the  Sign  of  the  Latn/>,  Bojlon,  directed  to 

R.  B.  Thomas,  Sterling. 

From  Bofton  to  Newport, 

Wellfleet    Collins  & 

Dedham             Everet  2 

over  Seekhonk,  thro  ugh 

Lombard  9 

Walpole     Smith,  Bil- 

Rehoboth.              Miles 

Truro            Knowles  7 

lings  &  Smith  3 

Roxbury          Whiting  8 

ditto            Stevens  i 

Wrentham          Hatch  4 

Dedham  Ames  &  Gay  5 

Provincetown     Nick- 

ditto              Bolcom  4 

Ellis  3 

erfon  7 

Attleborough    Hawes  5 

Walpole              Policy  7 



ditto              Newell  4 

Wrentham          Druce  6 

117 

ditto             Barrows  2 

Attleborough  Holmes  5 

Seekhonk  Plain  Sabins  2 

Newell  4 

To  Martha's  Vineyard. 

Patucket              Slack  i 

Rehoboth     Carpenter  7 

Sandwich  Feffenden  60 

Providence      Holmes, 

Warren                  Cole  8 

Falmouth            Fifh  10 

Hartfhorn  &  Barter  4 

Briftol                  Bourn  4 

Falmouthtown  Hatch  8 



Ferry-  Houfe        Pearfe  2 

Wood's  Hole  Parker  4 

45 

Portfmouth    Congden  7 

Over  the  ferry  to  Vine- 

Newport                        5 

yard  9 

To   Charleftown,  (New- 



Hampfhire)  &  Crown- 

69 

9i 

point. 

To  Plymouth  &  Cape  Cod. 

Road  to  Taunton,  Som- 

Watertown  WillingtonS 

Roxbury                Kent  4 

erfet,  Warren,  Briftol, 

Waltham     Townfend  2 

Milton                 Pierce  3 

and  Newport. 

Concord      Parkman  10 

Quincy                 Marfh  2 

Milton                  Vofe  7 

Acton                   Jones  5 

ditto            Salilbury  2 

ditto            Bradley  3 

Harvard        Parkhurft  8 

Weymouth        Arnold  i 

Canton                 Bent  4 

ditto           Atherton  2 

ditto                    Rice  3 

ditto                  May  i 

Fitchburgh    Cowden  n 

Hingham          Waters  3 

ditto               Crane  2 

ditto                Upton  3 

Scituate       Collamore  4 

Sharon             Savage  2 

Weftminfter     Cooper  i 

Hanover             Wales  5 

Eafton     Wetherbery  5 

Afhburnham   Cufhing  2 

Pembroke           Baker  4 

Taunton    Porter,    Bol- 

ditto                Ruffell  i 

Kingfton               Little  6 

cum  &  Hodges  12 

Winchendon         Hale  5 

Plymouth       Bartlett  & 

Dighton      Dean  and 

ditto               Kidder  4 

Witherell  4 

Brown  7 

Fitzwilliam         Stone  4 

ditto               Cornifh  6 

Somerfet            Davis  4 

ditto                  Reed  5 

ditto                    Ellis  5 

Swanzey            Chace  5 

New  Marlbro'  Switcher 

Sandwich        Newcomb 

Warren                5 

ditto             Roberts  8 

&  Feffenden  7 

Briftol                 Keith  4 

Keene         Richardfon 

Barnftable       Howland, 

Over  the  ferry  to  New- 

ditto              Bullard 

Baxter  &   Chipman  8 

port       Townfend  13 

ditto            Edwards  6 

ditto            Loring  & 



Walpole           Moore  10 

Crocker  4 

74 

ditto        Bellows  2d  4 

Yarmouth        Baffet  & 

ditto              Bellows  3 

Thatcher  5 

Poft-Roadto  Providence. 

Charleftown        Stone  9 

Harwich                  Silk  7 

Roxbury        Whiting  8 

ditto         Willard  & 

ditto  Clark  &  Snow  i 

ditto              Draper  I 

Carpenter  i 

Eaftham          Knowles  6 
ditto            Knowles  3 

Dedham  Gay  &  Clap  2 
ditto                  Ellis  3 

Nott's  ferry                     5 
Springfield      Stevens  3 

\VeathersfieldSpafford2 

Montreal                        6 

Newent          Burnham  8 

Cavendifh              Pain  6 

Trois  Rivieres             90 

Norwich           Lathrop  7 

ditto                 Coffin  5 

Quebec                         80 

Mohegan      Houghton  7 

Otter  Creek    Botton  20 



New-London  Douglas  7 

Rutland                Meed  6 

489 



Pittsford           Waters  6 

104 

Shoreham        Moore  20 

To   Charleftown,  (New- 

Bridport          Toinner  8 
Crownpoint                    2 

Hampjhire.} 
Menotomy         Ruffel  5 

Upper  Road  to   Exeter 
and  Portland. 

ditto      Whittemore  i 
Lexington         Brown  3 
ditto                Alunro  i 

Medford       Blanchard  5 
Woburn      Blackhorfe  3 

196 

To  Montreal  &  Quebec. 
[From  Walpole  Bridge,  a 
new  route.~\ 
Walpole  Bridge         103 
(See  the  foregoing  lift.) 
Over  the  Bridge 
Rockingham      Webb  5 
Chefter            Kimball  7 
Cavendifh         Button  9 
Ludlow                 Reed  3 
Mountholly        Green  5 
ditto                  Bentt  2 
Shrewfbury  Roberfon  5 
Clarendon      Bowman  6 

ditto          Dudley  & 
Merriam  i 
ditto          Benjamin  2 
Lincoln          Hartwell  4 
Concord    Richardfon  3 
Afton                 White  5 
Littleton           Gilbert  5 
Groton       Richardfon  8 
Shirley              Sawtel  5 
Lunenburgh        Good- 
rich &  Whitney  5 
Fitchburgh     Cowden  4 
Afhburnham  Cufhing  7 

ditto                  Fowle  3 
Wilmington 
Blanchard  4 
Andover             Abbot  8 
Haverhill       Charlton  9 
Plaftow              Sawyer  5 
Kingfton              Blake  6 
Exeter                Folfom  5 
Stratham           Folfom  5 
Newmarket      Folfom  5 
Durham                Gage  4 
Dover             Shannon  6 
Berwick              Butler  6 
ditto           Thomfon  2 

Rutland                Reed  5 

r*7 

ditto                   Hays  3 

ditto                Finton  i 
Pittsford           Ewings  6 

57 
Thence  to  Charleftown 
as  in  the  beforemen- 

Wells            Littlefield  7 
Kennebunk       Bernard 

ditto               Antony  2 
Brendon            Gilbert  ^ 

tioned  lift. 

&  Howard  9 
Biddeford       Hooper  10 

Leicefter        Woodard  7 
Salifbury            Heard  6 
Middlebury    Mattock  6 
Vergennes    Hollifler  12 
Ferrifburg             Burt  7 
Charlotte       Williams  4 
Shelburn        Pearfons  4 

To  Dartmouth  College. 
Charleftown 
Willard  119 
(See  above.) 
Claremont         Afhley  6 
ditto                 Cook  4 
Cornifh               Chafe  5 

Saco  Bridge      Spring 
Pepperelbo.  Bradbury  4 
Scarborough    Milikin  2 
ditto                 Marfh  4 
ditto                March  2 
Stroudwater       Broad  5 
Portland         Greele  & 

Burlington          Ames  7 

Plainfield         Safford  7 

Motley  4 

Milton        Mansfield  14 

Lebanon                Hall  6 

Acrofs   the    found  to 

Hanover        Brewfter  4 

127 

South  Hero                6 



The  Gut  between  N. 

i  5  ' 

Poft-Road      to     Salem 

&  S.  Hero  Gordon  12 

<J 

Ne-wbury-Port,       and 

Ferry  to  N.  Hero          i 

To  Norwich  and  New- 

Port/moutk. 

Hervey's  Ferry              7 

London. 

(Over   Maiden    Bridge) 

Alburgh                            i 

Attleborough  Newel  36 

Maiden  Bridge     Page  2 

Savage's  Point                4 

Providence           Rice  9 

(New  road) 

Latitude  45°      Seat  & 

Johnfon           Sheldon  3 

To  Lynn            Newell  6 

Grig's  8 

T?:/I,«   - 

Danvers                 Frye  7 

Barrows's  8 

Scituate              Angel  4 

Salem     Webb  and  Buf- 

Wattoy's  5 

ditto               Taylor  6 

fington  i 

Chefhere's  8 

Coventry             Knox  4 

Beverly       Goodridge  2 

St.  John's               Gill  4 

Volentown    Dorance  4 

Baker  if 

Leproire  18 

Plainfield           Eaton  4 

Wenham           Porter  2^ 

Hamilton        Brown& 

New-Caftle  Ferry 

Uxbridge               Taft  6 

Adams  2 

Avery  5 

Douglafs        Whipple  5 

Ipfwich       Swazey  & 

ditto              Nichols  2 

Thompfon         Jacobs  7 

Treadwell  4 

Nobleborough  Huffey  5 

ditto             Nichols  2 

Rowley           Parley  & 

Waldoborough    Reed  2 

Pomfret      Grofvenor  7 

Bimop  4 

ditto            Sampfon  7 

Afhford              Spring  7 

Newbury-Port        Dav- 

Cufhing          Packard  9 

ditto              Perkins  3 

enport  8 

St.  George's  Ferry        i 

ditto                 Clark  2 

Merrimack     Bridge 

Camden          Gregory  7 

Wilmington        Utley  4 

Pearfon  ; 

Maduncook 

Mansfield       Dunham  4 

Hampton  falls   Wells  7 

M'Clathry  7 

Coventry         Kimball  6 

Hampton          Leavitt  5 

Duck  Trap         Ulmer  7 

E.  Hartford      Wood- 

Northampton    Leavitt 

Belfaft           Mitchell  12 

bridge  6 

&  Dearbon  2 

Frankfort          Black  12 

ditto                 Little  9 

Greenland             Hufe  5 

The  Ferry                       i 

Hartford                Bull  i 

Portfmouth     Brewfter, 

Blue  Hill         Parker  13 

Weathersfield  Wright  4 

Greenleaf,  Geddes 

ditto                Patten  7 

Worthington       Riley  9 

&  Davenport  5 

Union  River  Milliken  7 

Meriden        Robinfon  6 



Kilkenny         Gookins  6 

Wallingford    Carring- 

6? 

Gouldfboro'       Jones  19 

ton  4 

Machias  Longfellow  40 

North-Haven       Ives  5 

Road  to  Machias. 



New-Haven    Nichols 

(To    Portfmouth,  as   a- 

358 

and  Butler  8 

bove.) 



From      Portfmouth, 

From  Bo/Ion  to  Pajfama- 

142 

over  the  Ferry  i 

quoddy. 

Portfmouth     Ferry 

To  Salem                      15 

Rice  3 

Ipfwich                          12 

Weftern    Pod-Road   to 

York          Emerfon  & 

Newbury-Port               12 

Hartford   and    Ne~M- 

Preble  9 

Portfmouth                    22 

York,  according  to  the 

ditto  Sewall&Wyer  5 

York                              12 

new  meafurement. 

ditto                 Cole  1  1 

Wells                             16 

Cambridge        Brown  3 

Kennebunk    Bernard 

Biddeford                      14 

Watertown      Willing- 

&  Jaffry  4 

Portland                        18 

ton  4 

Biddeford        Hooper  9 

N.  Yarmouth               15 

Wefton                Flagg  8 

ditto                Spring 

Brunfwick                     15 

Sudbury              Howe  5 

Pepperelbo.  Bradbury  4 

Bath                               12 

ditto                 Howe  5 

Scarborough  Burbank  i 

Wifcaffet                       13 

Marlboro'     Williams  6 

ditto               Milikin  2 

Penobfcot                    70 

North  boro'      Munroe  5 

ditto             Harmen  2 

Frenchman's  Bay        42 

Shrewfbury         Peafe  4 

ditto                 Marfh  2 

Machias                        40 

Worcefter         Mower  8 

Falmouth            Broad  4 

Paffamaquoddy            48  Leicefter           Hobart  6 

ditto               Pollard  4 

Spencer            Mafons  5 

Portland           Motley, 

376  Brookfield        Draper  3 

Greele  &  Hufton  4 

Weftern               Blairs 

New-Cafco    Bucknam  7 

Middle  Road  to  Hart-\  Palmer                Bates  9 

North  Yarmouth 

ford  and  New  Haven.    WilbrahamGrofvenor  4 

Loring  6 

Dedham             Ames  n  Springfield  Williams  10 

ditto                Elwell  2 

ditto               Colburn  3  Suffield             Sykes  10 

Freeport     Cummings  9 

Medfield              Clark  6  Windfor             Picket  7 

Brunfwick           Chafe  5 

Medway     Richardfon  5 

Allfn  7 

Brunfwick  Falls  Stone  5 

Bellingham         Smith  6  Hartford                 Lee  3 

Bath              Lambert  12  Milford         Penniman  4  Weathersfield       Wil- 

Herndell's  Ferry           2 

Mendon       Miller  and 

Hams  10 

Wifcaffet      Whittier  u 

Fuller  2,Middleton     tjohnfon  8 

Durham          tCanfield  6 

Crown-Point                15 

Peterfham  Dickerfon  2 

Wallingsford           tCar- 

Willfborough               20 

ditto                  Wrard  I 

rington  8 

Fort  St.  John             60 

Orange                 Cady  6 

North-Haven         Ives  6 

Le  Prairie                     16 

ditto                 Mayo  I 

New-Haven     t  Brown  7 

Montreal                        6 

Warwick       Pomeroy  7 

Milford             Clarke  10 

Trois  Rivieres            90 

South  Road                  5 

Stratford  Ferry  Gillet  2 

Quebec                        80 

Northfield          Hunt, 

Stratford        tLovejoy  2 



Whitney  &  Doolittle, 

Fairfield     tPennfield  10 

568 

N.  R.  8 

Greenfarms          Paffel  8 

Hinfdale             Howe  8 

Norwalk              tReed  4 

From  Bo/ion  to  Albany 

Brattleboro'Dickerfon  6 

Stamford           tWebb  9 

on  the  Hartford  Road. 

Marlbro'      Stockwell  4 

Horfeneck        fKnapp  6 

Weftern              Blair  73 

ditto            Whitney  6 

Rye               tQuintard  6 

Ware               Quintin  6 

Wilmington        Cook  4 

Maroneck          Horton  4 

Belcher  Town 

ditto        Thompfon  2 

Nevv-Rochel  Williams  4 

Dunbar  7 

Reedfboro'    Hartwell  6 

Eaft-Chefter         Gyon  4 

Hadley              White  6 

Kingfbury            tHoyt  4 

do.               Warner  3 

Woodford           Scott  5 

Harlem               Hafley  5 

N.  Hampton 

Bennington     Deway, 

New-York    tBeckman  9 

Pomeroy  3 

Fay,  Grifwold  and 



do.             Edwards  5 

Hathaway  7 

254 

Chefterfield    Merrick  7 



Worthington       Fitch  6 

J55 

N.    B.       Where     the 

Patridgefield    Badger  8 

Mail    Stage    flops,    the 

do.               Whiting  3 

Poft-Road  to   Windjor, 

names  of  the  Inkeepers 

Dalton        Waterman  3 

(  Vermont.) 

are  marked  thus  [t]. 

Pittsfield             Allen  6 

[From  Springfield]. 

Hancock            Broad  5 

Springfield  Williams  50 

To  Albany  and   Quebec, 

New  Lebanon 

Upper  Ferry                  i 

j  Springfield      Parfons  96 

Springs  2 

WeftSpringfieldMiller7 

Over  the  river  to  Ely's  2 
Weftfield               Clap  7 

Canaan               Jones  2 
Stevenftown         Bum  7 

Northampton  Lyman  6 
ditto           Pomeroy  5 

ditto             Emerfon  3 

Schoodick         Strong  6 

Hatfield            White  4 

Plandford             Knox  6 

do.            McKowns  9 

Whately    Gad  Smith  6 

Greenwood       Rowley  6 

Green  Bum 

Deerfield              Hoyt  8 

ditto             Emerfon  3 

Van  Haden  2 

Greenfield       Willard  3 

Tyrinyham    Chadwick  7 

Albany  Ferry                3 

Munn 

Great-Barrington 

Albany                             i 

Barnardfton    Alverd  n 

Root  9 



Brattlebo.  Dickerfon  10 

ditto          Whiting  i 

173 

Putney        Goodwin  u 

Egremont             Hicks  4 

Weftminfler  Spooner  10 

Nobletown         Cowles  4 

Road  to  Peter/ham  and 

Walpole  Bridge            3 

ditto         Mackinftry  3 

Bennington. 

Charleftown,   No.   4 

ditto                     Ray  3 

Shrewfbury       Peafe  40 

Willard  7 

Stonehole  Hoggaboom  3 

ditto              Cufhen  i 

Claremont    Hubbard  7 

Kinderhook         Goofe  4 

Worcefter       Bigelow  4 

Windfor         Conant  11 

ditto            Voubarg  i 

Holden              Parker  3 



ditto                  Fitch  2 

ditto                 Abbot  3 

160 

Albany  Ferry                  8 

ditto                  Davis  i 

Half  moon                     12 

Rutland             Wood  4 

Road   from    Bojlon   to 

Stillwater                       13 

ditto                 Henry  i 

Keene  in  New-Hamp- 

Saratoga                        12 

3akham            Kelley  5 

Jhire. 

Fort  Edward                20 

Barre                   Nurfe  4 

To  Cambridge  Brown  3 

Lake-George                 14 

ditto                  Smith  2 

Lexington       Munroe  8 

Ticonderoga                  30 

Peterfham     Peckham  5 

Concord    Richardfon  8 

Littleton          Kedder  9!  Lexington          Munroe  4 

To  Alexandria         504 

Groton     Richardfon  loj  Lincoln           Benjamin  t 

Colchefter                   16 

Warren                          9:  Concord         Wyman  & 

Dumfries                     12 

Townfend          Stone  i 

Paine  4 

Frederickfburg           25 

Jaffray           Prefect  15  Stow                    Ruffell  8 

Bowling  Green           22 

Part  of  New-Ipfwich      Bolton                 Homer  6 

Hanover                     25 

Mulliken  5  Lancafter         Williams  5 

Richmond                   22 

Marlborough     Sweet- 

Leominfter             Hale  8 

Peterlburg                   25 

fer,  Longley  13 



Halifax                         75 

Keene     Wells  &  Ed- 

47 

Tarlburg                      37 

wards  6 

Smithfield                   60 



From  Bojlon   to   Groton, 

Fayetteville                 50 

87 

on  the  Leominfter 

Greeno                         75 

Road. 

Campden                    55 

From    Keene    in    New- 

To  Concord      Wyman 

Columbia                    35 

Hamfjhire   to    Dart- 

&  Paine  20 

Cambridge                  80 

m  out  /i-  College 

Littleton              Kidder  8 

Augufta                       50 

To  Walpole  Bullards  14 

Groton         Richardfon  8 

Savannah                  120 

I  '  .  .  1  1  ;  ,  *.  ~  —  «  i 

Charleftown      Hunt  5^ 

36 

1288 

\llcn  4 

Claremont  Stearnes  n 
Windfor            Pettes  7 
Hartland  Ferry            9 

From  Bojlon  to  Savannah 
in  Georgia,  Poft-Road. 
To  Worcefter                 48 

From    Philadelphia 
to  WaJJiington^  via 

Dartmouth     College 

Springfield                      48 

Lancajler. 

Brewfter,  Dewey  9 

Hartford  in  Conn.         28 

To  Buck  Tav.             n 



Middleton                       14 

Warren  Tavern          12 

62 

New  Haven                   26 

Downing's                    10 

Stratford                         14 

Waggon&Whitaker's  8 

Road  from  Worcefter  to 

Fairfield                           8 

M'Cleland's                  9 

Providence. 

Norwalk                          1  2 

Brefsler's                       9 

From  the  Court  Houfe 

Stanford                          10 

Lancafter  Court  Houfe 

to  Harrington's  3 

Kingfbridge                   30 

Slough  7 

Grafton              Drury  3 

New  York                       14 

Wright's  Ferry           n 

ditto  Woods  or  Barnes  5  Newark                             9 
Upton             Kingfley  4lElizabethtown                  6 

Over  Sufquehannah    i 
To  Yorkt.  Sponglen  1  1 

Mendon         Miller  & 

Bridgetown                       6 

Paradife                         9 

Fuller  6 

Woodbridge                     4 

Hanover  Eckelburf   39 

ditto             Aldrich  6 

New  Brunfwick              10 

MARYLAND- 

Cumberland     Fifk  or 

Princetown                      18 

Tawnytown  Cra7   cen6 

Lovet  6 

Trenton                           12 

Pine  Creek  Co/  erly  12 

ditto                Jenks  4 

Briftol                              10 

Frederickto.F  .mballi3 

ditto           W  nipple  2 

Philadelphia                   20 

Tillard  9 

Smithfield       Aldrich  i 

Chefter                           16 

Seneca                         u 

North  Providence 

Wilmington                    13 

Montgomery  Court  H. 

W  inflow  4 

Chriftiana  Bridge          n 

Ogle  10 

Providence      Thayer  \ 

Ellfton                             10 

Georgetown     Suter  12 



Charleftown                    10 

Wafhington,   to    the 

45 

Haver  de  Grace               6 

Capitol                       3 

Hertford                          12 



From  Bojlon  to  Leomin- 

Baltimore                        25 

J93 

Jler. 

Bladenfburg                   38 

From    Philadelphia   to 

To  Cambridge 

Alexandria                      16 

Bethlehem. 

Brown  3 



To  Germantown 

Menotomy   Whitman  4 

504 

Sayers  8 

Weaver  12 

Wantage  Hinchman  7 

Fork  of  the  old  Penn- 

Seller  11 

ditto           Randall  8 

fylvania    and    Glade 

Quakertown  Roberts  6 

Suffex  Court-Houfe 

Roads               Bonnet  4 

Cooper  7 

Willis  14 

Foot  of  Dry  ridge  Mac- 

Bethlehem                   8 

Hardwick         Goble  5 

cracken  or  Wirth  3 



Old  Moravian  town 

Medfkar                             6 

52 

Gambol  1  1 

Hew's      Camping- 

Oxford           White  12 

Ground            Ditty  5 

Eaftown     Shannon  10 

Foot       of       Alleghany 

To  Bethlehem,  via  Arew- 

Bethlehem     Elbert  12 

Grindall  6 

York. 

Allenftown       Miller  6 

Glades                    Black  7 

New-York  to  Newark  9 
Springfield                    7 
Scotch  Plains              16 

Mexetony       Kemp  16 
Reading              Zoll  18 
Womminftown  Wick- 

ditto              Colpenny  9 
ditto                    Brake  5 
Foot  of  Laurel  hill 

Bound  Brook 

erlane  13 

Shaver  i 

Somerfet  Court  Houfe  8 
Reading                       1  1 
Grandiner's  Mills         9 
Hickery's  Tavern        4 
M'Henry's                     8 

Merriftown     Bulmas  9 
Lebanon         Shingle  7 
Millerftown         Rice  5 
Humbleftown      Lin- 
coln 12 
River  Succetarra         i 

Phlifbury  7 
Carnes  3 
Cherry  7 
Mount  Pleafant 
Knuby  3 
Thomfon  5 

Bethlehem                    8 

Harrifburgh  (upon  the 

Shumral's  Ferry  at  the 

Sufquehanna)Grimes  8 

Youghiegany      River, 

f\n 

Carlifle           Fofter  16 

or  Bud's  Ferry,  2  miles 

yz 

ditto       Alexander  7 

further  up                    10 

ditto    Maccracken  7 

Patterfon  3 

Road  from  Fi/hkill  to 
the  Ohio  Riiier. 

Shippinfboro'  Rippy  7 
Clark's  Gap  Cooper  10 

Devore's    Ferry   at    the 
Monongahela 

Over  the  Blue  Moun- 

Patterfon 9 

From  Fifhkill  to  the 

tain  to  Skinner's  3 

Wafhington  C.  H. 

Ferry  5 

Over  the  Path  Valley 

Maccarmick  n 

Over   the    Ferry   to 

and  Tuscarora  Moun- 

Well's Mills                    16 

Newboro'  2 

tains  to  the  Burnt  Cab- 

Coxe's fort  on  the  fouth- 

Bethlehem 

ins            Jemmerfon  8 

ern  Banks  of  the  Ohio  10 

Edmondfon  4 

Fort-Littleton     Bird  4 

Down  the  Ohio  to  the 

Bloomingfgrove  Goid- 

Foot    of    Skillinghill 

mouth  of  the  Mufkin- 

fmith  8 

Panther  10 

gum                               95 

Chefter        Gilverton  8 

Juncita            Martin  9 



Warwick            Smith  9 

Bedford           Wirth  14 

524 

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HAVE   AN    EYE   TO    THE   MOON! 

THE   moon,    as    everybody    knows,   was    formerly 
thought  to  have  a  constant  and  powerful  effect  on 
men  and  things.     This  article  of  faith  was  uni- 
versal and  there  is  no  occasion  to  dwell  upon  its  antiquity. 
It  has  left  plain  traces  upon  our  language  in  moon-calf  for 
"  monster,"  moonstruck,  and  mooning,  as  well  as  in  lunatic. 
As  Othello  said  — 

It  is  the  very  error  of  the  moon: 

She  comes  more  near  the  earth  than  she  was  wont, 

And  makes  men  mad. 

Of  the  significance  of  the  moon's  place  in  medical  treat- 
ment enough  has  already  been  said  in  our  chapter  on  the 
famous  Anatomy,  —  that  grotesque  figure  encircled  by 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac  which  was  once  regarded  as  in- 
dispensable in  an  almanac.1 

In  particular,  the  waxing  and  waning  of  the  moon,  con- 
nected as  it  is  with  the  movements  of  the  tides,  was  be- 
lieved to  exercise  a  sympathetic  influence  over  all  nature, 
animate  and  inanimate.  Remnants  of  these  fancies  may 
even  now  be  discovered  in  the  folk-lore  of  New  England. 
There  are  mothers  who  still  prefer  to  cut  their  children's 
hair  in  the  increase  of  the  moon,  that  it  may  grow  more 
luxuriantly;  and  some  farmers  must  still  follow  the  same 
rule  in  killing  their  pigs,  in  order  that  the  pork  may  swell, 
rather  than  shrink,  in  the  barrel  or  the  kettle. 

Mr.  Thomas   as  we  have  seen  on  other  occasions,  was 

1  See  pp.  53  ff.,  above. 
20 


306  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

disposed  to  attach  little  importance  to  this  kind  of  natural 
philosophy.  The  earlier  numbers  of  the  Almanac  give  it 
scanty  recognition,  and  there  is  a  suspicion  of  good- 
humored  banter  in  such  allusions  as  he  makes  to  the 
subject.  As  time  goes  on,  the  irony  becomes  more  obvi- 
ous, and  before  long  the  whole  matter  is  ignored.  A  few 
extracts  from  the  Farmer's  Calendar  will  show  how  he  felt 
about  the  moon.  They  will  have  some  interest  for  ama- 
teurs of  folk-lore,  and,  indeed,  for  all  who  care  for  the 
significant  little  things  of  history. 

1794.  January  14.  Kill  your  winter  pork  and  beef,  and  it 
will  enlarge  while  cooking. 

1794.  April  13.    A  good  time  in  the  moon  to  sow  hemp  and 
flax,  if  your  ground  be  not  too  wet. 

1795.  January  5.    Pork  and  beef  kill  for  winter's  use,  to  have 
it  increase  while  cooking. 

1799.  January  6.  At  this  quarter  of  the  moon  cut  fire-wood, 
to  prevent  its  snapping. 

1799.  April  8.    Wheat,  sown  at  this  quarter  of  the  moon,  is 
said  not  to  be  subject  to  smutting. 

1800.  August  19.   Mow  bushes!  mow   bushes   now!  if  you 
have  any  faith  in  the  influence  of  the  moon  on  them. 

1 80 1.  September  12.   Moon-arians  have  not  neglected  haul- 
ing up  and  destroying  pernicious  weeds  before  this  day  of  the 
month  ! 

1804.  August  22.  Mow  bushes,  and  kill  them  if  you  can,  in 
the  old  moon,  sign  in  heart,  &c. 

1814.  January  i.  Kill  your  winter  pork,  which  I  presume  by 
this  time  is  fat  and  plump  from  good  keeping. 

The  entry  last  quoted,  we  observe,  is  perfectly  non- 
committal. We  cannot  be  sure  that  the  author  was  think- 
ing of  the  moon  at  all.  In  1803,  however,  there  is  a  rather 
pretty  bit  of  irony,  which  shows  how  he  regarded  the 
"  Moon-arians":  — 


HAVE  AN   EYE  TO   THE   MOON!  307 

1803.  January  18.  Old  Experience  says,  (and  she  generally 
speaks  the  truth)  that  pork,  killed  about  this  time,  will  always 
come  out  of  the  pot  as  large  as  when  it  was  put  in. 

In  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  the  influ- 
ence of  the  moon  on  animal  and  vegetable  life  was  not 
merely  an  article  of  faith  among  the  ignorant.  It  was 
an  accepted  tenet  of  science,  though  there  was  some  doubt 
as  to  the  precise  limits  of  this  influence.  Cotton  Mather, 
perhaps,  will  hardly  be  allowed  to  "qualify  as  an  expert" 
—  though  his  reputation  for  exceptional  credulity  comes 
rather  from  his  having  put  himself  on  record  than  from 
any  peculiarity  in  his  mental  temper.  But  no  one  will 
deny  that  Robert  Boyle,  the  founder  of  the  Royal  Society, 
the  improver  of  the  air-pump,  and  the  discoverer  of  Boyle's 
Law  of  the  elasticity  of  gases,  was  a  genuinely  scientific 
personage.  Mather  writes  :  — 

One  Abigail  Eliot  had  an  iron  struck  into  her  head,  which  drew 
out  part  of  her  brains  with  it :  a  silver  plate  she  afterwards  wore 
on  her  skull  where  the  orifice  remain'd  as  big  as  an  half  crown. 
The  brains  left  in  the  child's  head  would  swell  and  swage,  accord- 
ing to  the  tides  ;  her  intellectuals  were  not  hurt  by  this  disaster  j 
and  she  liv'd  to  be  a  mother  of  several  children.1 

And  Boyle  records  "  an  odd  observation  about  the  in- 
fluence of  the  moon"  in  the  following  terms:  — 

I  know  an  intelligent  person,  that  having,  by  a  very  dangerous 
fall,  so  broken  his  head,  that  divers  large  pieces  of  his  skull  were 
taken  out,  as  I  could  easily  perceive  by  the  wide  scars,  that  still 
remain ;  answered  me,  that  for  divers  months,  that  he  lay  under 
the  chirurgeons  hands,  he  constantly  observed,  that  about  full 
moon,  there  would  be  extraordinary  prickings  and  shootings  in 
the  wounded  parts  of  his  head,  as  if  the  meninges  were  stretched 

0 

1  Magnalia,  book  vi,  chap.  2,  ed.  1853,  II,  356. 


308       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

or  pressed  against  the  rugged  parts  of  the  broken  skull ;  and  this 
with  so  much  pain,  as  would  for  two  or  three  nights  hinder  his 
sleep,  of  which  at  all  other  times  of  the  moon  he  used  to  enjoy 
a  competency.  And  this  gentleman  added,  that  the  chirurgeons, 
(for  he  had  three  or  four  at  once)  observed  from  month  to 
month,  as  well  as  he,  the  operation  of  the  full  moon  upon  his 
head,  informing  him,  that  they  then  manifestly  perceived  an 
expansion  or  intumescence  of  his  brain,  which  appeared  not  at 
all  at  the  new  moon,  (for  that  I  particularly  asked)  nor  was  he 
then  obnoxious  to  the  forementioned  pricking  pains.1 

Toward  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  gen- 
erally held  by  physicians  that  the  new  or  full  moon,  or  the 
approach  to  the  new  or  full  moon,  was  a  powerful  exciting 
cause  of  fever.2  It  had  also  been  observed  that  persons 
in  extreme  age  usually  died  either  at  the  new  or  at  the  full 
moon,  though  it  is  not  clear  how  this  was  brought  into 
accord  with  the  usual  theories  of  the  moon's  increase.3 

If  we  pass  over  to  the  vegetable  kingdom,  we  have  a 
first-rate  witness  in  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Deane  (1733— 
1814),  for  many  years  pastor  of  the  First  Church  at  Port- 
land, Maine.  Dr.  Deane  was  neither  superstitious  nor 
opinionated.  He  was  a  man  of  learning,  singularly  clear- 
headed, and  moderate  always.  Besides,  he  was  a  wit. 
When  he  was  a  tutor  at  Harvard  College,  we  are  told,  he 
ventured  a  harmless  jest.  A  visitor,  to  whom  he  was  ex- 
hibiting the  curiosities  in  the  College  Museum,  noticed  a 
long  rusty  sword,  and  asked  to  whom  it  had  belonged.  "  I 
believe,"  replied  Mr.  Deane,  "  that  it  was  the  sword  with 
which  Balaam  threatened  to  kill  his  ass."  "  But,"  objected 
the  stranger,  "  Balaam  had  no  sword  ;  he  only  wished  for 
one."  "Oh,  true,"  said  Mr.  Deane,  "that  is  the  one  he 

1  Experimenta  et  Observationes  Physicae,  chap.  5,  experiment  4;  Works, 
ed.  Birch,  V,  96. 

2  See  Gentleman's  Magazine,  4787,  LVII,  340. 

3  Gentleman's  Magazine,  1803,  LXXIII,  1001. 


HAVE   AN   EYE   TO   THE   MOON!  309 

wished  for."1  This  anecdote  is  traditional,  but  there  is 
another  specimen  of  the  doctor's  humor  which  we  have 
in  his  own  handwriting.  Portland  (then  Falmouth)  was 
burned  by  the  British  naval  commander  Mowat  in  1775. 
ihere  was  intense  indignation,  and  Dr.  Deane  suggested, 
as  an  inscription  for  a  plan  of  the  town  published  shortly 
after,  a  brief  statement  of  the  facts,  in  which  Captain 
Mowat  is  described  as  "  that  execrable  scoundrel  and 
monster  of  ingratitude."  At  the  end  of  the  letter  in 
which  he  expresses  these  sentiments,  Dr.  Deane  admits  a 
possible  emendation :  "  If  you  do  not  like  the  words 
execrable  scoundrel,  you  may  say,  infamous  incendiary,  or 
what  you  please."  2 

Like  most  New  England  ministers  of  the  time,  Dr. 
Deane  was  a  practical  farmer.  He  also  kept  a  diary,  on 
the  blank  pages  of  interleaved  almanacs,  and  under  the 
year  1767  we  read: — "May  4.  I  planted  short  beans, 
sowed  cauliflowers  and  apple  seeds,  being  increase  of  the 
moon.  5.  I  planted  corn  and  potatoes,  increase  of  the 
moon."3 

But  Dr.  Deane  was  not  merely  a  practical  farmer.  He 
was  a  close  student  of  agriculture.  In  1790  he  issued  an 
octavo  called  The  New  England  Farmer,  or  Georgical 
Dictionary,  which  was  accurately  described  in  the  pro- 
spectus as  "  a  more  complete  system  of  husbandry  than 
has  been  before  published  in  so  small  a  compass,"  and  as 
"  the  only  one  that  has  been  attempted  in  this  country,  or 
that  is  adapted  to  its  circumstances."  This  was  a  work 
of  great  merit,  and  enjoyed  a  continuous  popularity  of 
about  fifty  years.  Here  is  Dr.  Deane's  method  of  keeping 
apples  in  good  condition  :  — 

1  Journals  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Smith,  and  the  Rev.  Samuel  Deane.  ed. 
by  Wm.  Willis,  Portland,  1849,  p.  292. 

2  The  same,  p.  341,  note. 
8  The  same,  p.  321. 


3io  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

The  secret  of  preserving  them  through  the  winter,  in  a  sound 
state,  is  of  no  small  importance.  Some  say,  that  shutting  them 
up  in  tight  casks  is  an  effectual  method ;  and  it  seems  probable ; 
for  they  soon  rot  in  open  air. 

But  an  easier  method,  and  which  has  recommended  itself  to 
me  by  the  experience  of  several  years,  is  as  follows  :  —  I  gather 
them  about  noon,  on  the  day  of  the  full  of  the  moon,  which  hap- 
pens in  the  latter  part  of  September,  or  beginning  of  October. 
Then  spread  them  in  a  chamber,  or  garret,  where  they  lie  till 
about  the  last  of  November.  Then,  at  a  time  when  the  weather 
is  dry,  remove  them  into  casks,  or  boxes,  in  the  cellar,  out  of  the 
way  of  the  frost ;  but  I  prefer  a  cool  part  of  the  cellar.  With 
this  management,  I  find  I  can  keep  them  till  the  last  of  May,  so 
well  that  not  one  in  fifty  will  rot. 

Some  may  think  it  whimsical  to  gather  them  on  the  day  above 
mentioned.  But,  as  we  know  both  animals  and  vegetables  are 
influenced  by  the  moon  in  some  cases,  why  may  we  not  suppose 
a  greater  quantity  of  spirit  is  sent  up  into  the  fruit,  when  the 
attraction  of  the  heavenly  bodies  is  greatest  ?  If  so,  I  gather  my 
apples  at  the  time  of  their  greatest  perfection,  when  they  have 
most  in  them  that  tends  to  their  preservation.  —  I  suspect  that 
the  day  of  the  moon's  conjunction  with  the  sun  may  answer  as 
well ;  but  I  have  not  had  experience  of  it.  The  same  caution,  I 
doubt  not,  should  be  observed  in  gathering  other  fruits,  and  even 
apples  for  cyder :  But  I  have  not  proved  it  by  experiments.1 

This  passage,  which  must  be  accepted  as  the  doctrine  of 
a  scientific  farmer  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
was  reproduced,  with  due  acknowledgments,  in  the  Al- 
manac for  1796,  where  it  appears  on  the  back  of  the 
title-page. 

Mr.  Thomas,  it  will  be  remembered,  suggested  mowing 
bushes,  and  "  killing  them  if  you  can,"  in  the  old  moon, 
"  sign  in  heart."  There  is  a  suspicion  of  raillery  in  these 

1  The  New  England  Farmer,  Worcester,  1790,  p.  12  ;  2d  ed.,  1797,  p.  14. 


HAVE  AN  EYE  TO  THE  MOON!          311 

words,  but  the  principle  which  they  embody  had  long 
been  accepted  among  farmers.  One  of  the  best  accredited 
writers  on  agriculture  in  the  eighteenth  century  was  the 
Rev.  Jared  Eliot  of  Killingly,  Connecticut.  In  the  first  of 
his  Essays  on  Field-Husbandry,  Mr.  Eliot  remarks  that 
he  has  been  "  told  by  an  experienc'd  Farmer,  that  if  you 
girdle  Trees,  or  cut  Brush  in  the  Months  of  May,  June  and 
July,  in  the  Old  of  the  Moon,  that  Day  the  Sign  removes 
out  of  the  Foot  into  the  Head,  especially  if  the  Day  be 
cloudy,  it  will  kill  almost  all  before  it."  1  Mr.  Eliot,  how- 
ever, refused  to  be  convinced  without  testing  the  matter. 
"  Experience,"  he  observes,  "  is  Authority,  to  whom  we 
are  to  submit,  I  am  not  forward  to  believe  without  Trial." 
This  was  in  1747.  The  subject  was  felt  to  be  of  some 
moment.  Farmers  had  to  clear  their  land,  and  under- 
brush was  a  great  nuisance  and  hard  to  kill.  Accordingly, 
some  five  years  later,  we  have  the  results  of  an  experiment, 
and  they  are  curious  enough  to  give  in  Mr.  Eliot's  own 
words.  Any  attempt  to  condense  would  destroy  the  indi- 
viduality of  his  style.  He  has  now  found  "certain  Times 
for  cutting  Bushes,  which  [are]  more  effectual  for  their 
Destruction  than  any  yet  discovered  " :  — 

The  Times  are  in  the  Months  of  June,  July  and  August ;  in 
the  old  Moon  that  Day  the  Sign  is  in  the  Heart :  It  will  not  always 
happen  every  Month ;  it  happens  so  but  once  this  Year,  and  that 
proves  to  be  on  Sunday.  Last  Year  in  June  or  July,  I  forgot 
which,  I  sent  a  Man  to  make  Trial ;  in  going  to  the  Place,  some 
of  the  Neighbours  understanding  by  him  the  Business  he  was 
going  about,  and  the  Reason  of  his  going  at  that  Point  of  Time, 
they  also  went  to  their  Land,  and  cut  Bushes  also  on  that  Day ; 
their's  were  tall  Bushes  that  had  never  been  cut ;  mine  were  short 
bushes  such  as  had  been  often  cut,  but  to  no  Purpose,  without  it 
was  to  increase  their  Number :  The  Consequence  was,  that  in 

1  Essays  upon  Field-Husbandry  in  New-England,  Boston,  1760,  p.  16. 


312       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

every  Place  it  killed  so  universally,  that  there  is  not  left  alive, 
scarce  one  in  a  hundred ;  the  Trial  was  made  in  three  or  four 
Places  on  that  same  Day.  In  July  or  August,  on  the  critical 
Day,  another  Swamp  was  cut,  the  Brush  was,  the  greatest  Part 
of  it,  Swamp  Button  Wood,  the  most  difficult  to  subdue  of  any 
Wood  I  know ;  I  have  been  lately  to  see  it,  and  find  the  Destruc- 
tion of  these  Bushes  are  not  so  universal  as  among  Alders  and 
other  Sorts  of  Growth ;  it  is  hard  to  say  how  many  remain  alive, 
it  may  be  one  third  or  a  quarter  Part ;  all  that  I  can  say,  with 
Certainty,  is  that  they  are  now  few,  compared  with  what  there 
was  last  Year :  I  did  not  know  but  that  those  which  are  alive, 
might  be  such  as  came  up  since ;  but  upon  Examination,  I 
found  the  last  Year's  Stumps,  and  could  plainly  see  where  they 
had  been  cut  of;  this  was  not  because  the  Season  was  better 
when  there  was  such  Success ;  for  in  this  last  mentioned  Piece  of 
Swamp,  there  were  sundry  Spots  of  Alders  and  other  Sorts  of 
Bushes,  they  seem  to  be  as  universally  killed  as  those  before  men- 
tioned :  The  Reason  why  there  was  not  the  same  Success  attend- 
ing the  cutting  these  Button  Bushes  as  the  other  Sorts,  I  suppose 
to  be  from  the  stubborn  Nature  of  this  Kind,  which  would  yield 
to  no  cutting ;  the  ordinary  Way  has  been  to  dig  or  plough  it  up 
by  the  Roots ;  so  that  considering  the  Nature  of  this  Bush,  I  have 
had  great  Success ;  the  Ground  being  very  boggy,  those  who 
mowed  them,  were  obliged  to  cut  them  very  high,  which  was 
another  Disadvantage. 

To  show  such  a  Regard  to  the  Signs,  may  incur  the  Imputa- 
tion of  Ignorance  or  Superstition ;  for  the  Learned  know  well 
enough,  that  the  Division  of  the  Zodiac  into  Twelve  Signs,  and 
the  appropriating  these  to  the  several  Parts  of  the  animal  Body, 
is  not  the  Work  of  Nature,  but  of  Art,  contrived  by  Astronomers 
for  Convenience.  It  is  also  as  well  known,  that  the  Moon's 
Attraction  hath  great  Influence  on  all  Fluids. 

It  is  also  well  known  to  Farmers,  that  there  are  Times  when 
Bushes,  if  cut  at  such  a  Time,  will  universally  die.  A  Regard  to 
the  Sign,  as  it  serveth  to  point  out  and  direct  to  the  proper  Time, 
so  it  becomes  worthy  of  Observation. 


HAVE   AN   EYE  TO   THE   MOON!  313 

If  Farmers  attend  the  Time  with  Care,  and  employ  Hands  on 
those  Days,  they  will  find  their  Account  in  it.1 

This  passage  from  "  the  curious  and  learned  Dr.  Elliot," 
as  Mr.  Thomas  calls  him,  is  inserted  in  the  Almanac  for 
1803,  but  without  any  comment,  whether  favorable  or 
adverse. 

In  1805  Mr.  Thomas  prints  a  letter  from  an  unknown 
correspondent,  whose  signature  is  P.  S.  and  who  describes 
himself  as  "  an  old  Ploughjogger."  It  contains  an  obser- 
vation with  regard  to  the  effect  of  the  moon  on  fruit  trees 
which  may  profitably  be  compared  with  the  principles 
laid  down  by  Mr.  Deane.  Mr.  Thomas  does  not  say  what 
he  thinks  of  the  Ploughjogger's  theory. 

There  is  one  thing  however,  I  have  always  admired  that  you,  or 
some  other  writer  on  fruit  trees  never  have  mentioned,  though  I 
think  it  well  worth  observing,  which  is,  setting  fruit  trees  in  the  old 
of  the  moon,  that  they  never  thrive  so  well,  and  it  is  rare  that  any 
come  to  perfection,  but,  generally  turn  to  shrubs  or  die  in  a  few 
years.  —  I  am,  Sir,  an  old  farmer,  upwards  of  seventy-five  years 
of  age,  and  this  I  have  proved  by  my  own  experience,  as  well  as 
by  observing  it  of  others,  whom  I  could  point  out,  but  I  think  it 
needless.  Apple  trees  as  well  as  all  other  fruit  trees  should  be 
set  out  in  the  new  of  the  moon,  and  the  top  cut  down  until  there 
are  no  more  limbs  on  the  top  than  roots  on  the  bottom,  a  tree 
thus  pruned  will  grow  more  in  four  years  than  one  that  is  not, 
will  do  in  ten.  I  have  another  observation,  Sir,  to  make,  which 
is,  on  the  cutting  and  preserving  scions  for  grafting ;  these  should 
be  taken  off  in  the  last  of  March  and  tied  in  a  bundle,  and  buried 
in  the  ground  five  and  six  inches  deep,  there  to  remain  until  the 
bud  begins  to  open,  and  the  moon  changes,  then  they  should  be 
taken  up  and  the  dirt  washed  off  in  cold  water,  when  they  are 
fit  for  grafting ;  these  will  be  plump  and  grow  four  times  as  well 
as  those  that  have  been  lying  in  a  cellar  and  become  wilted. 

1  Essays,  as  above,  pp.  123-4. 


THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

There  is  nothing  strange  in  the  doctrines  of  Dr.  Deane, 
Mr.  Eliot,  and  the  old  Ploughjogger.  They  are  not  off- 
shoots of  superstition,  but  merely  a  slight  aberration  of 
science.  We  must  not  confuse  the  attitude  of  these  sober 
experimenters  with  the  whimsies  of  astrological  theorists  a 
century  before,  to  whom  the  planets  were  the  lords  of  life 
and  death,  of  growth  and  decay,  and  who  held  that  the 
wholesomeness  and  medicinal  virtue  of  plants  depended 
as  well  on  the  planet  under  which  they  were  gathered  as 
on  that  under  which  they  were  eaten  or  administered  to 
the  patient.  Such  a  philosopher  was  Israel  Hiibner,  whose 
Mystery  of  Seals,  Herbs,  and  Stones,  was  translated  by 
one  B.  Clayton,  and  published  at  London  in  1698.  Hiibner 
was  Professor  of  Mathematics  in  the  University  of  Erfurt, 
and  his  work  is  full  of  perverse  learning.  Lunar  diseases, 
according  to  his  system,  were  ulcers,  measles  and  spots 
on  the  face,  cataracts,  epilepsy,  and  dysentery.  Among 
herbs,  roots,  and  trees  under  the  especial  influence  of  the 
moon  he  includes  beans,  cabbages,  cucumbers,  lettuce, 
mandrake,  pompions  (i.  e.  pumpkins),  plum  trees,  and 
watercresses.  On  the  tenth  of  March,  1698,  "  at  31  min- 
utes past  7  at  Night,  the  Moon  is  in  Mid-Heaven  with  3 1 
Testimonies.  At  which  time  you  must  cut  up  or  gather 
the  Herbs  and  Roots  of  the  Moon  ;  you  may  provide  your 
self  half  an  hour  before-hand,  but  the  Herb  or  Root  must 
be  cut  or  gathered  at  3  i  minutes  past  Seven,  and  put  into 
a  pale,  white  or  grey  coloured  Silk  bag,  and  kept  till  Occa- 
sion serves."  How  these  vagaries  were  received  may  be 
inferred  from  a  commendatory  poem  by  Gadbury,  the 
astrologer  and  almanac-maker,  which  is  prefixed  to  Clay- 
ton's volume,  and  which  declares  that  "the  World  is  gov- 
ern'd  by  Stars  Energy "  and  that  every  physician  "  must 
have  a  Warrant  from  the  spangled  Skies  "  ! 


WHAT   TO   READ 

MR.  THOMAS  does  not  neglect  to  recommend 
suitable  reading  to  the  farmer.  His  Calendars 
for  December  contain  many  items  of  this  sort, 
suitably  intermingled  with  directions  for  threshing,  putting 
sleds  and  sleighs  in  order,  and  the  several  occupations 
appropriate  to  the  winter  season.  At  other  seasons  the 
farmer  had  enough  to  do  in  attending  to  the  diversified 
agriculture  of  a  time  when  every  estate  was  its  own  home 
market  and  aimed  at  being  sufficient  unto  itself  so  far  as 
the  products  of  the  climate  would  allow.  A  sample  of  Mr. 
Thomas's  literary  advice  may  be  seen  in  his  very  first 
number  (1793)  :  - 

Put  your  sleds  &  sleighs  in  order. 

Complete  your  thrashing. 

Visit  your  barns  often. 

See  that  your  cellars  are  well  stored  with  good  cider,  that 
wholesome  and  cheering  liquor,  which  is  the  product  of  your 
own  farms  :  No  man  is  to  be  pitied,  that  cannot  enjoy  himself  or 
his  friend,  over  a  pot  of  good  cider,  the  product  of  his  own 
country,  and  perhaps  his  own  farm ;  which  suits  both  his  consti- 
tution and  his  pocket,  much  better  than  West-India  spirit. 

Now  comes  on  the  long  and  social  winter  evenings,  when  the 
farmer  may  enjoy  himself,  and  instruct  and  entertain  his  family 
by  reading  some  useful  books,  of  which  he  will  do  well  in  pre- 
paring a  select  number.  The  following  I  should  recommend,  as 
books  worthy  the  perusal  of  every  American.  —  RAMSAY'S  History 
of  the  American  Revolution;  MORSE'S  Geography  ;  and  BELKNAP'S 
History  of  New- Hampshire. 


316      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Adjust  your  accounts ;  see  that  your  expenditures  do  not 
exceed  your  incomes. 

And  again,  in  1795,  we  find:  — 

The  winter  affords  many  enjoyment[s]  to  mankind  in  general, 
but  to  no  one  class  of  men  more,  than  to  the  industrious  husband- 
man, who  now  sets  down  at  leisure  surrounded  by  all  the  com- 
forts and  necessaries  of  life  pleasingly  spending  the  long  winter's 
evenings  in  social  converse  as  by  reading  some  useful  and  enter- 
taining author.  "  Reading  and  conversation  are,  to  winter,  what 
flowers  are  to  the  spring,  and  fruits  are  to  autumn.  They  are 
the  boast  of  the  season.  Superior  to  vernal  joys,  these  perma- 
nent pleasures  of  the  intellect  are  in  vigor,  when  those  are  faded 
and  no  more." 

Another  specimen  may  be  taken  from  the  Almanac  for 
1814:- 

It  is  all  important  that  every  man  should  know  the  history 
and  geography  of  his  own  country.  —  Yet  a  vast  many  of  us  hardly 
know  our  right  hand  from  our  left  in  this  respect.  What  more 
profitable  employment  can  you  have  during  the  long  winter 
evenings  than  reading  Hutchinson's  history  of  Massachusetts 
—  Belknap's  New-Hampshire  —  Williams's  Vermont  —  Life  of 
Gen.  Washington  —  American  Revolution,  Morses'  and  other 
Geographies,  &c. 

The  farmer  and  his  family  are  not  to  be  limited  to  so 
solid  a  diet  as  this  paragraph  prescribes.  At  the  end  of 
December,  1794,  we  read:  "The  Life  of  Dr.  Franklin,  I 
would  recommend  for  the  amusement  of  winter  evenings, 
also  the  Life  of  Baron  Trenck."  Franklin's  Autobiography 
has  become  classic.  The  celebrated  Baron  Trenck,  how- 
ever, has  almost  dropped  out  of  sight,  though  he  long 
remained  a  popular  author  with  boys.  His  imprisonments 
and  escapes  from  durance  are  still  good  reading.  Many 


WHAT  TO   READ  317 

will  remember  the  exciting  moment  when  he  was  caught 
by  the  leg  as  he  was  just  getting  over  the  palisades  that 
enclosed  his  prison.  Trenck  was  regarded  as  altogether 
too  worldly  a  writer  for  Sunday  perusal.  "  Baron  Trenck," 
writes  Mr.  Aldrich,  in  his  Story  of  a  Bad  Boy,  "  Baron 
Trenck,  who  managed  to  escape  from  the  fortress  of  Glatz, 
can't  for  the  life  of  him  get  out  of  our  sitting-room  "  closet 
on  a  Sunday. 

Mr.  Thomas,  it  will  be  noticed,  was  inclined  to  recom- 
mend American  authors.  There  had  been  much  historical 
writing  in  this  country,  and  geography,  too,  was  a  favorite 
pursuit  in  New  England.  As  Dr.  Benjamin  Trumbull  said, 
in  his  Century  Sermon  preached  at  North  Haven,  Con- 
necticut, on  New  Year's  Day,  1801,  when  the  Almanac 
was  in  its  first  decade,  "  by  the  assistance  of  the  Reverend 
Dr.  Morse's  Universal  Geography,  and  that  of  Dr.  Dwight's 
for  schools,  school  boys  know  more  of  geography  now, 
than  men  did  an  hundred  years  ago;  nay  more  than  even 
the  writers  on  geography  knew  at  that  period.  Besides, 
several  good  histories  of  the  colonies  have  been  written 
during  the  last  century,  which  have  greatly  increased  their 
knowledge  of  each  other,  and  acquainted  the  world  more 
intimately  with  their  affairs."  1 

There  was  a  large  importation  of  books  from  England. 
Booksellers  abounded  in  the  country  towns,  and,  what  is 
more,  in  the  last  part  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  at  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth,  there  were  local  presses  with- 
out number,  and  cheap  copies  of  standard  English  authors 
bearing  the  imprint  of  Newburyport,  Salem,  New  Bedford, 
Exeter,  Brattleboro',  and  so  on,  were  the  order  of  the  day. 
It  was  likewise  a  common  practice  for  large  publishers  to 
sell  books  in  sheets  to  the  trade  in  the  country,  thus  allow- 
ing them  the  profit  on  binding  as  well  as  the  retail  profit. 
The  present  centralization  of  the  publishing  business 

1  A  Century  Sermon,  New  Haven,  1801,  p.  6. 


318  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

makes  it  rather  difficult  to  appreciate  the  state  of  things  a 
hundred  years  ago. 

Mr.  Thomas  was  himself  a  bookseller,  stationer,  and 
bookbinder.  The  Almanac  for  1797  contains  an  amazing 
list  of  what  he  offered  for  sale  in  the  little  town  of  Sterling. 
His  Advertisement  is  reprinted  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 
For  poetry  we  have  Akenside,  Armstrong,  Goldsmith, 
Milton,  Thomson's  Seasons,  and  Young's  Night  Thoughts, 
not  to  speak  of  the  facetious  Peter  Pindar.  Ovid's  Art  of 
Love  is  counterbalanced  by  the  lyrics  of  Dr.  Watts.  There 
are  also  two  miscellaneous  collections  of  songs,  —  the 
Hive  and  the  Skylark,  and,  that  American  verse  may  not 
be  slighted,  the  Columbian  Muse.  Particular  attention 
may  be  called  to  the  blank-verse  Thoughts  in  Prison  by 
the  vain  and  unfortunate  Dr.  William  Dodd,  who,  after  a 
brilliant  career  as  a  fashionable  preacher,  was  hanged  at 
Tyburn  for  forgery  in  1777.  He  had  been  the  tutor  of 
Philip  Stanhope,  godson  and  successor  of  the  famous  Lord 
Chesterfield  whose  Letters  are  also  in  Mr.  Thomas's  list. 

Mr.  Thomas's  stock  was  well  furnished  with  romances 
and  novels.  Fielding  is  represented  by  Tom  Jones  and 
Joseph  Andrews ;  Smollett  by  Roderick  Random  ;  Sterne 
by  the  Sentimental  Journey;  Miss  Burney  by  Evelina  and 
Cecilia,  —  all  of  them  now  admitted  to  the  rank  of  classics. 
For  downright  sensationalism  we  have  Mrs.  Radcliffe's 
Mysteries  of  Udolpho.  Frigid  and  mechanical  as  its 
clumsy  horrors  seem  to  our  jaded  appetites,  it  gave  our 
forefathers  many  thrills  and  was  held  to  be  unprofitable 
by  the  stricter  sort.  The  venerable  Dr.  Jacob  Bigelow, 
in  his  ninetieth  year,  remembered  that,  when  he  was  a 
boy,  his  cousin,  Mary  Wilder,  who  was  half-a-dozen  years 
older  than  he,  used  to  delight  the  children  by  telling  them 
Mrs.  Radcliffe's  story.  When  he  had  spent  an  evening 
listening  to  The  Mysteries  of  Udolpho,  "  he  was  afraid  to 
be  alone  in  the  dark,  and,  on  getting  into  bed,  covered  his 


WHAT  TO   READ  319 

head  with  the  bedclothes  in  terror."1  This  was  in  1798, 
or  thereabout,  the  very  time  that  we  are  considering. 
Works  by  the  same  author  to  be  found  in  the  Sterling 
bookstore  were  A  Sicilian  Romance  and  The  Romance  of 
the  Forest. 

Other  works  of  fiction  which  Mr.  Thomas  had  for  sale 
were  Desmond,  by  the  once  admired  Charlotte  Smith, 
Henry  Brooke's  interminable  Fool  of  Quality,  and  Daniel 
Defoe's  Religious  Courtship.  For  children  there  was  the 
highly  correct  Sandford  and  Merton.  Dr.  Johnson's  Ras- 
selas  was  of  course  not  lacking,  nor  were  the  lacrymose 
Man  of  Feeling  by  Henry  Mackenzie  and  the  same  author's 
Julia  de  Roubigne  and  Man  of  the  World,  all  unaccounta- 
bly popular  in  their  time.  More  important  was  the  Zeluco 
of  Dr.  John  Moore,  the  father  of  the  famous  Sir  John, 
which  worked  so  powerfully  on  Byron,  who  calls  the 
author  an  "acute  and  severe  observer  of  mankind"2  and 
says  that  he  once  meant  Childe  Harold  for  "  a  modern 
Timon,  perhaps  a  poetical  Zeluco."3  Mr.  Thomas's  cus- 
tomers could  also  be  provided  with  copies  of  ^the  Arabian 
Nights  and  of  Robinson  Crusoe.  Obviously  the  citizens 
of  Sterling  had  nothing  to  complain  of,  so  far  as  food  for 
the  imagination  was  concerned. 

Sermons,  works  of  theology,  and  books  of  devotion  are 
numerous  in  Mr.  Thomas's  catalogue,  as  was  to  be  ex- 
pected ;  but  he  also  had  the  Second  Part  of  Paine's  Age  of 
Reason  —  an  odd  volume,  perhaps,  which  had  got  stranded 
on  his  shelves.  Is  it  generally  known  that  Tom  Paine  was 
an  early  champion  of  that  theory  of  education  which  sets 
modern  literature  in  an  unnatural  opposition  to  ancient, 
and  arrays  the  natural  sciences  against  them  both?  His 

1  Memorials   of   Mary    Wilder    White,   by    Elizabeth    Amelia   Dvvight, 
edited  by  Mary  Wilder  Tileston,  Boston,  1903,  pp.  23-24. 

2  Preface  to  Marino  Faliero,  Works,  Poetry,  ed.   E.    H.    Coleridge,  IV, 

334- 

3  Childe  Harold,  Addition  to  the  Preface,  Works,  as  above,  II,  8. 


32O  THE   OLD    FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

Age  of  Reason  contains  the  following  remarkable  utter- 
ance on  this  subject:  — 

As  there  is  now  nothing  new  to  be  learned  from  the  dead 
languages,  all  the  useful  books  being  already  translated,  the 
languages  are  become  useless,  and  the  time  expended  in  teach- 
ing and  in  learning  them  is  wasted.  ...  It  is  only  in  the  living 
languages  that  new  knowledge  is  to  be  found.  .  .  .  The  best 
Greek  linguist,  that  now  exists,  does  not  understand  Greek  so 
well  as  a  Grecian  plowman  did,  or  a  Grecian  milkmaid ;  and 
the  same  for  the  Latin,  compared  with  a  plowman  or  milk- 
maid of  the  Romans ;  and  with  the  respect  to  pronunciation 
and  idiom,  not  so  well  as  the  cows  that  she  milked.  It  would 
...  be  advantageous  to  the  state  of  learning  to  abolish  the 
study  of  the  dead  languages  and  to  make  learning  consist,  as  it 
originally  did,  in  scientific  knowledge.1 

What  we  have  seen  of  Mr.  Thomas's  sturdy  Ameri- 
canism would  lead  us  to  expect  that  his  shop  would  be 
well  furnished  with  American  books,  and  we  are  not  sur- 
prised to  find  among  those  in  his  stock  the  works  which 
he  particularly  commends  in  his  Farmer's  Calendar  — 
Jeremy  Belknap's  History  of  New  Hampshire,  Jedediah 
Morse's  Universal  Geography,  Lendrum's  History  of  the 
American  Revolution,  and  the  Life  of  Dr.  Franklin.  Bel- 
knap's  American  Biography  could  also  be  had  at  Sterling, 
as  well  as  Lee's  Memoirs,  Whitney's  History  of  Worcester, 
and  Williams's  Vermont. 

There  was  also  a  considerable  variety  of  books  of  travel 
—  genuine  and  fictitious.  It  is  hard  to  resist  the  tempta- 
tion to  linger  over  this  category ;  but  we  must  content 
ourselves  with  a  specimen  or  two. 

Carver's  Travels  must  have  been  of  absorbing  interest 
to  our  grandfathers,  and  it  is  still  consulted  by  the  ethnolo- 
gist and  the  geographer.  John  Carver,  who  had  been  a 

1  Age  of  Reason,  Part  I,  ed.  London,  1818,  p.  31. 


WHAT   TO    READ  321 

captain  in  the  French  and  Indian  War,  set  out  from 
Boston  in  1766  to  explore  the  territory  which  had  been 
added  to  the  British  possessions  by  the  Treaty  of  Versailles 
in  1763.  His  design  was  ambitious  in  the  highest  degree. 
He  confidently  expected  to  reach  the  Pacific  coast,  and, 
had  he  succeeded  in  this,  he  meant  to  urge  the  govern- 
ment "  to  establish  a  post  in  some  of  those  parts  about  the 
Straits  of  Annian,  which,  having  been  discovered  by  Sir 
Francis  Drake,  of  course  belong  to  the  English."  Such  a 
post,  he  thought,  would  help  to  the  discovery  of  the 
Northwest  Passage.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  Captain 
Carver  failed  to  push  his  way  to  the  Pacific  ;  but  he  never- 
theless accomplished  a  good  deal.  He  got  as  far  west  as 
the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  and  did  some  exploring  on  the 
north  and  east  shores  of  Lake  Superior.  His  narrative, 
which  appeared  in  1778,  is  full  of  life  and  motion,  and  well 
deserved  a  place  on  Mr.  Thomas's  shelves.  A  large  por- 
tion is  devoted  to  describing  the  manners  and  customs 
of  the  Indians,  particularly  those  of  the  interior.  One 
episode  in  this  part  of  the  book  is  of  peculiar  value.  To 
illustrate  the  ferocity  of  the  savages,  Carver  describes  the 
massacre  at  Fort  William  Henry,  in  1757.  He  had  served 
as  a  volunteer  among  the  provincials  sent  to  strengthen 
the  garrison.  When  the  fort  surrendered  and  the  slaugh- 
ter began,  he  succeeded, — thanks  to  his  strength,  agility, 
and  uncommon  coolness,  —  in  forcing  his  way  through  the 
Indians  and  gaining  the  shelter  of  the  forest.  After  travel- 
ling for  three  days  and  nights  without  food  he  reached 
Fort  Edward,  where,  as  he  rather  quaintly  observes,  "  with 
proper  care  my  body  soon  recovered  its  wonted  strength, 
and  my  mind,  as  far  as  the  recollection  of  the  late  melan- 
choly events  would  permit,  its  usual  composure." l  His 
rapid  and  vivid  account  of  his  escape  takes  high  rank 
among  authentic  tales  of  adventure. 

1  Carver,  Travels,  London,  1778,  p.  324. 
21 


322  THE   OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

The  story  of  Philip  Quarll,  now  almost  forgotten,  was  a 
great  favorite  in  the  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  was  reprinted  in  1795,  from  the  sixth  London 
edition,  by  Joseph  Belknap,  at  the  Apollo  Press,  in  Boston. 
This  was  the  first  American  edition  and  was  probably  the 
form  in  which  Mr.  Thomas  kept  the  book  for  sale.  The 
title  is  of  the  good  old-fashioned  kind  and  gives  a  rather 
full  account  of  the  contents.  It  runs  thus  :  —  "  The  Her- 
mit: or,  the  Unparalleled  Sufferings  and  Surprising  Adven- 
tures of  Philip  Quarll,  an  Englishman  :  who  was  discovered 
by  Mr.  Dorrington,  a  British  Merchant,  upon  an  unin- 
habited Island,  in  the  South-sea;  where  he  lived  about 
fifty  years,  without  any  human  assistance."  Mr.  Dorring- 
ton, who,  it  need  hardly  be  specified,  is  quite  as  fictitious  a 
character  as  Quarll  himself,  found  his  hermit  on  a  fertile 
island  in  the  Pacific  about  seven  leagues  from  the  Ameri- 
can coast.  Quarll  was  so  well  satisfied  with  his  situation 
and  mode  of  life  that  he  refused  to  return  to  England,  but 
he  gave  his  visitor  a  parchment  scroll  which  contained  a 
full  history  of  his  life,  both  before  and  after  the  shipwreck 
which  had  left  him,  the  sole  survivor,  in  his  rock-defended 
retreat.  The  first  part  of  Quarll's  biography  is  not  very 
edifying.  He  was  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age  and  after 
some  vicissitudes  of  fortune  found  himself  in  court  on  the 
charge  of  marrying  three  wives.  He  was  undoubtedly 
guilty  and  was  condemned  to  death.  There  were  extenu- 
ating circumstances,  however,  and  the  king  was  graciously 
pleased  to  pardon  him.  He  then  embarked  for  Barbadoes, 
accompanied  by  his  first  wife,  taking  along  with  him  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  "  woolen  manufacture  and  cutlery 
ware,"  which  he  had  understood  were  "  very  good  com- 
modities in  those  parts."  The  ship  doubled  Cape  Horn 
and  traded  at  several  ports  in  Peru,  Chili,  and  Mexico, 
intending  to  touch  at  Barbadoes  on  the  return  voyage. 
She  was  lost  in  a  storm,  however,  and  Quarll  was  washed 


WHAT  TO   READ  323 

ashore  on  his  island,  where,  as  we  have  seen,  he  was  found 
after  fifty  years  by  the  Bristol  merchant.  The  second 
part  of  Quarll's  biography  is  a  poor  imitation  of  Robinson 
Crusoe,  with  a  tame  monkey  for  Man  Friday  and  certain 
wicked  Frenchmen  to  play  the  part  of  Defoe's  savages. 
Unlike  Crusoe,  Quarll  became  quite  reconciled  to  his  iso- 
lation, and  we  are  led  to  infer  that  he  ended  his  days  in  his 
lonesome  paradise. 

Boyle's  Voyages  and  Adventures  is  particularly  recom- 
mended in  Mr.  Thomas's  list  as  "  full  of  various  and 
amazing  turns  of  fortune."  But  this  little  puff  is  not  a  bit 
of  advertising  on  the  bookseller's  part.  It  is  a  literal  ex- 
tract from  the  title-page,  which  again  is  of  the  old-fashioned 
sort,  serving  as  a  kind  of  table  of  contents  to  the  volume.1 
Nobody  knows  who  wrote  this  rambling  romance,  —  for  it 
is  pure  fiction,  though  it  has  often  been  taken  seriously. 
The  recommendation  in  the  title-page  is  honest  enough. 
The  book  is  fairly  dizzy  with  "  amazing  turns  of  fortune." 
Boyle  is  a  shipcaptain's  son,  and  is  apprenticed  to  a  Lon- 
don watchmaker  who  "  had  a  vast  Trade,  vended  a  great 
many  Watches  beyond  Sea."  After  some  odd  experi- 
ences in  London,  the  boy  is  packed  off  to  America  by  a 
perfidious  uncle,  who  sends  him  on  board  an  outward 
bound  ship  under  the  pretence  of  an  errand.  Luckily  he 
had  an  inclination  for  the  sea,  but  he  had  no  fancy  to  be 
disposed  of  as  a  kind  of  slave,  or  little  better,  when  he 
should  reach  the  plantations,  —  a  lot  that  he  had  only 
too  much  reason  to  expect,  for  it  accorded  well  enough 

1  The  Voyages  and  Adventures  of  Captain  Robert  Boyle,  in  several  Parts 
of  the  World.  Intermix'd  with  the  Story  of  Mrs.  Villars,  an  English  Lady 
with  whom  he  made  his  surprizing  Escape  from  Barbary;  the  History  of  an 
Italian  Captive;  and  the  Life  of  Don  Pedro  Aquilio,  &c.  Full  of  various 
and  amazing  Turns  of  Fortune.  To  which  is  added,  The  Voyage,  Ship- 
wreck, and  Miraculous  Preservation  of  Richard  Castleman,  Gent.  With  a 
Description  of  the  City  of  Philadelphia,  and  the  Country  of  Pennsylvania. 
London,  1726. 


324      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

with  the  habits  of  the  time.  Before  long,  however,  the 
ship  fell  in  with  a  Barbary  pirate,  under  the  command  of 
an  Irish  renegado,  and,  by  curious  chances,  which  it 
would  take  too  long  to  particularize,  he  found  himself  on 
board  the  rover,  in  a  rather  ambiguous  capacity,  for 
he  was  neither  captive  nor  passenger.  The  pirate  captain 
treated  him  well,  and,  when  they  arrived  at  Seller,  in 
Barbary,  employed  him  as  a  gardener.  The  captain  had 
adopted  Moorish  customs  and  had  several  wives  and 
female  slaves.  Boyle  fell  in  love  with  one  of  the  slaves, 
an  English  woman  named  Villars,  and  contrived  to  escape 
with  her,  in  the  company  of  an  Italian  captive,  whose 
story,  as  well  as  that  of  Mrs.  Villars,  is  woven  into  the 
narrative.  We  cannot  now  follow  Boyle  through  his 
varied  fortunes,  and  must  leave  him,  reluctantly,  almost  at 
the  outset  of  his  romantic  career.  The  book  does  not 
break  the  promise  made  by  the  title-page. 

Among  the  political  works  which  Mr.  Thomas  adver- 
tises, one's  eye  is  caught  by  The  Jockey  Club,  which  must 
not  be  passed  by  in  silence. 

The  Jockey  Club:  or  a  Sketch  of  the  Manners  of  the 
Age,  is  lively  reading,  and  students  of  politics  and  social 
history  still  resort  to  it  for  amusement,  if  not  for  edifica- 
tion. In  its  earliest  form,  as  published  in  1792,  it  con- 
tained fifty  characters  (with  one  more,  for  luck)  of  men 
who  were  at  that  time,  for  some  reason  or  another,  in  the 
public  eye,  —  many  of  them  members  of  the  Jockey  Club, 
whence  the  title  of  the  volume.  It  is  abusive  and  scurri- 
lous to  the  last  degree,  —  yet  not  perhaps  more  black- 
guardly than  the  general  tone  of  the  society  which  it 
professes  to  depict.  The  author  prudently  concealed  his 
name,  but  is  generally  understood  to  have  been  Charles 
Pigot.  As  an  additional  precaution,  he  makes  liberal  use 
of  dashes,  —  writing  of  the  P[rinc]e  of  W[ale]s,  the  h[eir] 
to  the  c[row]n,  the  B[ritis]h  C[abine]t,  Mr.  F[o]x,  and 


WHAT  TO   READ  325 

so  on ;  but  of  course  the  lacunae  were  easily  supplied  by 
his  readers,  both  in  England  and  in  America.  And  he  had 
readers  in  plenty.  A  second  and  a  third  part  were  soon 
called  for,  and  when  the  book  was  reprinted  in  New  York 
in  1793  the  publisher  followed  the  tenth  London  edition. 
Pigot's  attitude  toward  the  Americans  was  enough  to  com- 
mend his  book  on  this  side  of  the  water.  He  praises  Fox 
warmly,  though  not  without  frankly  admitting  his  weak 
points ;  and  one  of  his  few  completely  favorable  portraits 
is  that  of  the  D[uk]e  of  R[ichmon]d,  whom  he  commends 
for  "  his  unremitted,  patriotic  exertions,  during  the  long 
process  of  the  American  war."  These  "  were  such  as  the 
utmost  powers  of  panegyric  are  unequal  to  celebrate ;  nor 
will  his  speech  in  the  House  of  Lords,  where  he  unequivo- 
cally and  nobly  asserted  the  rights  of  men  and  America's 
independence,  even  at  the  moment  when  Chatham  was 
struck  with  death,'  be  ever  forgotten."  His  description  of 
Colonel  Tarleton  must  have  been  read  with  a  good  deal  of 
satisfaction  in  this  country  when  the  passions  of  the  Revo- 
lutionary War  had  not  yet  cooled.  It  is  a  fair  sample  both 
of  the  writer's  style  and  of  the  spirit  in  which  political 
pamphleteering  was  conducted :  — 

COL.  T  .  .  N VENI,  VIDI,  vici. 

OUR  hero  betrayed  very  early  symptoms  of  romantic  gallantry, 
and  a  brave  martial  spirit.  A  short  time  previous  to  his  embark- 
ation for  America,  being  one  evening  engaged  with  a  party  of  his 
acquaintance  at  the  Cocoa-tree,  he  greatly  alarmed  the  company, 
by  suddenly  drawing  his  enormous  sabre  from  the  scabbard,  and 
furiously  exclaiming,  "  With  this  weapon  I  '11  cut  off  General 
Lee's  head."  We  have  heard,  that  he  was  concerned  in  the  affair, 
when  that  officer  was  made  prisoner,  and  believe  that  two  or 
three  unfortunate  Americans  actually  fell  victims  to  the  Colonel's 
personal  valor  on  the  occasion. 

When  he  returned  to  his  native  country,  escaped   from  the 


326         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

perils  and  dangers  of  his  numberless  campaigns,  in  which  his 
humanity  shone  so  eminently  conspicuous,  he  thought  to  make 
a  sudden  and  durable  impression  on  the  minds  of  his  country- 
men, by  an  incessant  relation  of  his  extraordinary  achievements. 
His  countrymen  were  less  sensible  to  his  merit  than  he  imagined. 
They  did  not  listen  with  that  attention  or  admiration  that  the  gallant 
Colonel  expected.  The  exploits  of  a  pandor,  a  partizan,  are  ranked 
in  the  lowest  degree  of  military  merit ;  and  it  had  been  more  pru- 
dent on  his  part,  to  have  omitted  some  instances  of  his  valor, 
which  have  been  thought  rather  tending  to  perfidy  and  cruelty. 
The  Colonel,  however,  is  a  man  of  strict  honor ;  and  woe  to  him 
who  doubts  it !  He  is  likewise  member  for  Liverpool,  and  a  noted 
parliamentary  speechifier ;  having  particularly  distinguished  him- 
self in  that  cause,  so  congenial  with  his  own  heart,  the  rights  of 
power,  and  usurpation  against  the  rights  of  men.  He  is  the 
strenuous,  determined  advocate  of  the  Slave-trade,  and  hence  he 
aspires  to  future  success  at  Liverpool. 

But  one  must  stop  somewhere,  and  perhaps  as  well  with 
Colonel  Tarleton  as  another.  Here  is  the  whole  Catalogue, 
which  the  studious  reader  may  verify  in  any  large  library  — 
for  no  small  collection  of  modern  books  is  likely  to  dupli- 
cate Mr.  Thomas's  variegated  stock. 


•H-+++-H-+-H-H 


ROBERT  B.  THOMAS, 

HAS   FOR    SALE  AT  HIS 

Book   £5*   Stationary  Store, 

IN 


The  following  BOOKS  &  STATIONARY, 

-  TO    WHICH    ADDITIONS    ARE    CONSTANTLY    MAKING  - 

ADAMS'  View  of  Religions,  American  Preceptor, 
American  Juftice,  Art  of  Speaking,  American  Clerk's 
Magazine,  Ariftotle's  Works,  Alphonfo  £ff  Dalinda, 
Akenfide's  cff  Armitrong's  Poems,  Arabian  Nights  En- 
tertainment, 2  vol. 

Britifh  Album,  Baron  Trenk,  Boyle's  Voyages  £ff  Ad- 
ventures, in  feveral  parts  of  the  world,  full  of  various  and 
amazing  turns  of  fortune  —  Brown's  Elements  of  Med- 
icine, Brydone's  Tour,  Bennet's  Letters,  Bruce's  Trav- 
els abridged,  Blair's  Lectures,  2  vol.  do.  abridged,  do. 
Sermons,  2  vol.  Baxter's  Call  to  the  unconverted,  Bof- 
ton's  Fourfold  State,  Belknap's  Hiftory  of  Newhampfhire, 
3  vol.  do.  American  Biography,  Bell  on  Ulcers,  Buchan's 
Domeftic  Medicine  and  Family  Phyfician,  very  necejfary 
book  in  every  family  ;  Baron  Steuben's  Exercifes,  with 
plates,  Book  Keeping,  Bailey's  Dictionary,  Bibles,  quar- 
to with  24  copperplates,  Apocraphy  and  OSTERVAL'S 
notes,  do.  Scotch  and  Englifh  oflavo,  do.fmall  do. 

Carver's  Travels  in  America,  Cook's  Voyages,  2  vol. 
do.  abridged,  Complete  Letter  Writer,  Cyrus'  Travels, 
Cecilia,  3  vol.  by  Mifs  Barney,  Clerk's  Corderius,  Chef- 
elden's  Anatomy  with  plates,  Catechifm  of  Nature,  for 
the  ufe  of  children  ;  much  information  is  contained  in  a  fmall 
compajs  —  Chefterfield's  Principles  of  Politenefs,  Co- 
lumbian Mufe,  Cullen's  Practice  of  Phyfic  2  vol.  do. 
Materia  Medica, 

Dwight's  Geography  for  children,  Dana's  Selection, 
Dodd's  Thoughts  in  Prifon,  do.  Reflection  on  Death, 
Doddridge's  Rife  cff  Progrefs,  do.  on  Regeneration,  Def- 


mond,  a  novel,  by  Charlotte  Smith ;  Dialogues  of  Devils. 

Enfield's  Biographical  Sermons,  being  difcourfes  on 
the  principal  characters  in  fcripture ;  Edward's  Hiftory 
of  Redemption,  do.  on  Religious  Affe&ions,  Evelina, 
2  vol.  by  Mifs  Burney,  Economy  of  Life — Englifh  Her- 
mit;  or  the  unparr ailed  fujferings  and  furprifmg  adventures 
of  Phillip  £)uarll,  an  Englijhman,  who  was  dif covered  by 
Mr.  Dorrinton,  a  Br'iftol  merchant,  upon  an  uninhabited 
ijland,  in  the  South  Sea,  where  he  lived  about  fifty  years  with- 
out any  human  ajjiftance — Enfield's  Speaker  ;  or  mifcellane- 
ous  pieces  feleEted  from  the  bejl  Englijh  writers,  for  the  im- 
provement of  youth  in  reading  kfpeaking  ;  Elegant  Extracts. 

Fordyce's  Addrefles  to  Young  Men,  do.  Sermons  to 
Young  Women,  Farmer's  Friend,  Fool  of  Quality  3  vol. 
Friend  of  Youth  2  vol.  Flavel's  Token  for  Mourners, 
Federal  Ready  Reckoner. 

Goldfmith's  Eflays  and  Poems,  do.  Hiftory  of  Rome 
abridged,  Gregory's  Legacy. 

Hunter's  Sacred  Biography,  6  vol.  in  3,  Harris'  Natu- 
ral Hiftory  of  the  Bible,  do.  Syftem  of  Punctuation, 
Hervey's  Meditations,  Haplefs  Orphan,  by  a  lady,  2  vol. 
Hamilton's  Midwifery,  Hive. 

Inquifitor,  or  Invifible  Rambler. 

Jofephus,  by  Whifton,  6  vol.  Jockey  Club  abridged, 
Jenyn's  View,  do.  Lectures,  Julia  de  Roubigne,  Jofeph 
Andrews,  Jackfon  on  Fevers. 

Knox's  Eflays,  Keate's  Sketches  from  Nature. 

Laws  of  Maflachufetts,  Lee's  Memoirs,  Ladies  Libra- 
ry, Life  of  Chrift  and  the  Apoftles,  Life  of  Watts  and 
Doddridge,  Life  of  Dr.  Franklin,  Life  of  Col.  Gardner, 
Life  of  Jofeph,  Lendrum's  Hift.  of  Amer.  Rev.  2  vol. 

Mills  on  Cattle,  Mafon  on  Self  Knowledge,  Mirror,  2 
vol  Moore's  Travels,  2  vol.  do.  Zeluco,  do.  Medical 
Sketches,  Man  of  Feeling,  Moore's  Monitor,  Montague's 
Travels,  Morfe's  Univerfal  Geography,  a  new  and  elegant 
edition,  having  feventeen  additional  maps,  2  vol.  large  ofta- 
vo,  price  4^  dollars,  do.  abridged,  Elements  of  Geogra- 
phy, Milton's  Works,  Mafon's  Student  and  Paftor,  Myf- 
teries  of  Udolpho  3  vol.  Moore's  Fables  for  Ladies,  Man 


of  the  World,  Moore's  late  Journal  in  France,  Medical 
Pocket  Book. 

Newton  on  the  Prophecies  2  vol.  New  England  Far- 
mer, New  Edinburgh  Difpenfatory,  Necker  on  Religious 
Opinions.  Ovid's  Art  of  Love. 

Pleafures  of  Memory,  elegantly  printed  on  wove  paper, 
Pleafing  Inftru&or,  Pomfret's  Poems,  Probate  Laws, 
Pike's  Arithmetic,  do  abridged,  Peter  Pindar's  Works  2 
vol.  Pilgrim's  Progrefs,  Pelew  Iflands,  Paley's  Philofo- 
phy,  Paine's  (Thomas)  Age  of  Reafon,  2d  part,  Promp- 
ter, Perry's  Dictionary,  Pamela  abridged. 

Rights  of  Woman,  Raflelas  and  Dinarbas,  Robinfon  Cru- 
foe,  Rufh's  Medical  Obfervations  2  vol.  Religious  Court- 
fhip,  Rochefoucault's  Maxims,  Rowe's  (Mrs.)  Letters, 
Roderic  Random  2  vol.  Romance  of  the  Foreft. 

Sanford  and  Merton  3  vol.  in  one,  Sicilian  Romance, 
Seneca's  Morals,  Sterne's  Sentimental  Journey,  Sky  Lark, 
Smellie's  Anatomical  Tables. 

Thompfon's  Seafons,  Town  Officer,  Turner's  Book 
Keeping,  Tom  Jones,  3  vol. 

Winchefter  on  Univerfal  Reftoration,  Whitney's  Hif- 
tory  of  Worcefter,  Watfon's  Apology  for  the  Bible, 
Watts  on  the  Improvement  of  the  Mind,  do.  Lyric  Po- 
ems, do.  Pfalms  and  Hymns,  large  and  fmall,  gilt  or  plain, 
White  on  Lying  in  Women,  Williams'  Hiftory  of  Ver- 
mont, containing  much  philosophical  information. 

Young's  Night  Thoughts,  Young  Man's  Beft  Com- 
panion, Young's  letters  on  Univerfalifm,  Young's  Latin 
Dictionary. 

SCHOOL    BOOKS— by   the  grofs  or  Dozen. 

Alexander's  Englifh  and  Latin  Grammar,  do.  Elements, 
Bingham's  American  Preceptor,  do.  Young  Ladies'  Acci- 
dence, Perry's  Spelling  Book,  Webfter's  do.  2d  &  3d 
part,  Teftaments,  Worcefter  Collection,  Holden's  Mufic, 
Primmers,  &c.  &c. 

Juft  Printed  for  f aid  THOMAS,  and  fold  as  above, 

A  TREATISE  on  the  SCARLATINA  ANGINOS  A ; 
or  CANKER  RASH,  together  with  Philofophical  Obfervations 


on  Heat  and  Cold,  their  Influence  on  Animal  and  Vegetable 
Bodies.  Alfo  Theoretical  Sketches  on  FEVERS,  as  produced  from 
Phlogiftic  Principles,  and  Practical  Remarks  on  the  DYSEN- 
TERY —  The  whole  being  an  original  work  —  By  I.  A  LLEN,  M.D. 

JOURNAL  of  the  TRAVELS  and  SUFFERINGS  of  DANIEL 
SAUNDERS,  jun.  on  board  the  (hip  Commerce  of  Bof- 
ton,  which  was  caft  away  on  the  coaft  of  Arabia  in  1792. 

FEMALE  CHARACTER  VINDICATED,  or  an  anfwer  to 
the  Scurrilous  Inveflives,  of  Fafhionable  Gentlemen. 

RUSSELL'S  SEVEN  SERMONS  —  too  well  known  to  need  re- 
commendation. 

DIVINE  y  MORAL  SoNcsyir  CHILDREN,^  /.  Watts,  D.D. 


SMALL  HISTORIES,  CHAPMEN's  BOOK,  &c. 
Female  Policy  Detected,  French  Convert,  Royal,  do. 
Hiftory  of  the  Holy  Bible,  Seven  Wife  Mafters,  Robinfon 
Crufoe,  Tom  Thumb's  Exhibition,  New  Year's  Gift,  Lit- 
tle King  Pippin,  Mountain  Piper  —  with  a  great  number 
of  other  fma  II,  entertaining  hiftories. 


STATIONARY,   &c. 

Writing  Paper  of  the  fol-  ||  Record  Books  of  all  kinds  & 

lowing   kinds,   viz.  —  Superfine  II  prices  —  Blank    books    for    Cy- 

and  common  Fools  Cap,  fuper-  M  phering  —  Ivory     Memorandum 

fine  and  common  Pot  of  various  Books  —  Paper  do.  Gentlemen's 

prices,  extra  Port  Quarto,  Mag-  H  Morocco     and    black    Leather 

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100  —  Black  &  Red  Writing  Ink  n  ter's  Scales  —  Brafs  Dividends  — 

Powder,  and  Ink  —  Pewter  and  Playing        Cards  —  Speftacles  — 

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different       kinds  —  Penknives  —  ||  fmall  —  Pictures,  &c.    &c. 

Wafers  in  Boxes—  Account  and  II 

$g$*  Said  THOMAS  returns  his  fencer  e  thanks  for  pajl 
favors,  and  would  be  happy  in  a  continuance,  tho'  he  forbears 
faying  cheap  or  cheaper  than  can  be  purchafed  in  the 

Union,  wijhing  only  for  thofe  difpofed  to  purchafe,  to  call  and 

fatisfy  themfelves. 

+++++++  1  I  I  I  II  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  !  I  !  I  I  |  I  I  |  I  |  |  I  I  I  I  I  I-++-H-++++-H-++++S 
LEOMINSTER  :     PRINTED    BY    CHARLES    PRENTISS  - 


BARBERRIES   AND   WHEAT 

THE  early  New  England  farmer  expected,  of  course, 
to  raise  the  staple  grains  which  he  had  cultivated 
in  the  old  country,  and  among  these  wheat  natu- 
rally held  an  important  place.  On  the  coast,  however, 
wheat  would  not  thrive.  Thus  in  1666  Morton's  Memorial 
records  the  failure  of  the  crop  at  Plymouth  in  characteristic 
phraseology: — "This  year  much  of  the  wheat  is  de- 
stroyed with  blasting  and  mildew,  as  also  some  other  grain, 
by  worms,  and  the  drought  afore  mentioned ;  but  the 
Lord  hath  sent  much  rain  for  the  recovery  of  the  re- 
mainder, through  his  great  mercy."  l  There  are  similar 
entries  for  the  two  years  preceding.  The  settlers  wrestled 
stubbornly  with  unfavorable  conditions,  but  they  had  to 
give  up  in  the  end.  In  1764  Governor  Hutchinson  re- 
marked that  little  wheat  had  been  raised  in  Massachusetts 
for  a  long  time,  except  in  the  towns  on  the  Connecticut 
River,2  and  in  1826  Judge  Davis  added  that  since  Hutchin- 
son wrote  "  wheat  has  not  been  a  constant  crop  .  .  . 
in  any  places  nearer  to  the  seacoast  than  the  County  of 
Worcester."3  It  is  significant  that  the  word  "  corn,"  which 
means  "  wheat "  in  England,  was  gradually  transferred  in 
the  Colonies  to  what  was  at  first  called  "  Indian  corn,"  so 
that  finally  the  adjective  was  not  needed  and  is  now 
seldom  used.  When  the  West  was  settled,  the  new  sense 

1  Davis's  edition,  Boston,  1826,  p.  321. 

2  History  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  2d  ed.,  London,  £1765,] 
I,  229,  note. 

3  See  his  edition  of  Morton's  Memorial,  p.  321. 


328      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

of  "  corn  "  had  become  so  well  established  in  American 
usage  that  it  spread  throughout  the  country,  and  thus  one 
of  the  most  baffling  differences  between  British  English 
and  American  English  came  about. 

Of  course  our  rural  philosophers  were  not  content  to 
accept  defeat  without  an  effort  to  account  for  it,  and  a 
queer  idea  gained  currency  that  the  barberry  bush  was 
to  blame.  The  barberry  already  had  a  bad  reputation. 
It  infested  the  land  and  was  a  great  nuisance  to  farmers 
on  account  of  its  tenacity  of  life.  In  the  Almanac  for 
1800,  one  of  Mr.  Thomas's  correspondents,  after  a  few 
complimentary  remarks  to  the  editor,  expresses  himself 
with  some  passion  on  the  subject  of  this  ill-omened 
shrub : — 

MR.  THOMAS, 

I  HAVE  made  use  of  the  Farmer's  Almanack  for  the  last  four 
years  past,  and  am  much  pleased  with  it.  Being  an  old  farmer 
myself,  I  have  one  observation  to  make,  which  I  wish  you  to  pub- 
lish, as  I  think  it  of  no  small  consequence  to  farmers  in  those 
lower  towns,  whose  lands  are  overrun  with  barberry  bushes,  —  the 
most  pernicious  bush  that  ever  I  knew  grow  upon  the  face  of  the 
earth,  multiplying  exceedingly  fast,  though  great  pains  are  taken 
by  many  of  our  people  to  clear  their  lands  of  them,  but  to  no 
purpose.  Some  cut  them  down,  some  burn  them  on  where  they 
were  cut ;  others  attempt  to  pull  them  up  with  their  oxen,  but 
they  soon  sprout  again  four  to  one,  and  it  is  said  by  many,  that 
there  is  no  way  to  clear  land  of  them. 

I  have  discovered  a  method,  by  which,  a  man  may  thoroughly 
clear  his  lands  of  them,  and  which  I  have  practised  for  four 
years  past,  and  it  has  never  failed  effect.  Your  publishing  it  in 
your  next  year's  Almanack,  perhaps,  may  oblige  some  of  your 
readers,  as  well  as  gratify 

Your  friend  and  humble  servant, 

P.  SPRAGUE. 

Maiden,  August  26,  1799. 


BARBERRIES   AND   WHEAT  329 

An  effectual  Method  to  destroy  Barberry  Bushes. 

LET  a  man  take  a  small  chain  with  short  links,  and  lay  it  on  the 
ground  round  a  bunch  of  bushes,  then  lay  one  of  the  hooks  across 
the  chain,  and  draw  it  as  snug  as  he  can  with  his  hands  about  the 
bush  close  to  the  ground,  then  put  on  a  sufficient  team  to  bring  it 
up  by  the  roots  at  once.  —  If  this  be  done  in  the  months  of  October 
or  November,  it  will  never  fail  to  finally  exterminate  them. 

Our  correspondent,  it  will  be  noted,  has  nothing  to  say 
of  the  blasting  powers  of  the  barberry,  but  we  have  a  very 
circumstantial  account  of  them,  from  about  the  same  time, 
in  President  Dwight's  narrative  of  his  journey  to  Ber- 
wick, Maine,  in  1796.  He  is  speaking  of  Eastern  Massa- 
chusetts :  - 

From  Marlborough  Eastward,  throughout  a  country,  extending 
to  Piscataqua  river  on  the  North,  and  to  the  Counties  of  Bristol 
and  Plymouth  on  the  South,  the  Barberry  bush  is  spread ;  not 
universally,  but  in  spots,  and  those  often  extensive.  In  some 
fields  they  occupy  a  sixth,  fifth,  and  even  a  fourth,  of  the  surface. 
Neat  farmers  exterminate  them,  except  from  the  sides  of  their 
stone  enclosures.  Here  it  is  impossible  to  eradicate  them,  un- 
less by  removing  the  walls  :  for  the  roots  pass  under  the  walls ; 
and  spring  up  so  numerously,  as  to  make  a  regular  and  well  com- 
pacted hedge.  It  is  altogether  improbable  therefore,  that  they 
will  ever  be  extirpated. 

This  bush  is,  in  New-England,  generally  believed  to  blast  both 
wheat  and  rye.  Its  blossoms,  which  are  very  numerous,  and 
continue  a  considerable  time,  emit,  very  copiously,  a  pungent 
effluvium  ;  believed  to  be  so  acrimonious,  as  to  injure  essentially 
both  these  kinds  of  grain.  Among  other  accounts,  intended  to 
establish  the  truth  of  this  opinion,  I  have  heard  the  following. 

A  farmer  on  Long-Island  sowed  a  particular  piece  of  ground 
with  wheat  every  second  year,  for  near  twenty  years.  On  the 
Southern  limit  of  this  field  grew  a  single  Barberry  bush.  The 
Southern  winds,  prevailing  at  the  season,  in  which  this  bush 


330      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

was  in  bloom,  carried  the  effluvia,  and  afterwards  the  decayed 
blossoms,  over  a  small  breadth  of  this  field  to  a  considerable 
distance  :  and,  wherever  they  fell,  the  wheat  was  blasted :  while 
throughout  the  remainder  of  the  field  it  was  sound.  This  account 
I  had  from  a  respectable  gentleman,  who  received  it  from  the 
farmer  himself;  a  man  of  fair  reputation. 

In  Southborough,  a  township  in  the  County  of  Worcester,  a  Mr. 
Johnson  sowed  with  rye  a  field  of  new  ground,  or  ground  lately 
disforested.  At  the  South  end  of  this  field,  also,  grew  a  single 
barberry  bush.  The  grain  was  blasted  throughout  the  whole 
breadth  of  the  field,  on  a  narrow  tract  commencing  at  the  bush, 
and  proceeding  directly  in  the  course,  and  to  the  extent,  in 
which  the  blossoms  were  diffused  by  the  wind. 

In  another  field,  the  property  of  a  Mr.  Harrington,  an  inhabi- 
tant of  the  same  township,  exactly  the  same  circumstances 
existed  :  and  exactly  the  same  mischief  followed. 

These  two  accounts  I  received  from  Mr.  Johnson,  son  of  the 
Proprietor  of  the  field  first  mentioned  :  a  student  at  that  time 
in  Yale  College ;  and  afterwards  a  respectable  Clergyman  in 
Milford,  Connecticut. 

As  no  part  of  the  grain  was  blasted  in  either  of  these  cases, 
except  that,  which  lay  in  a  narrow  tract,  leeward  of  the  barberry 
bushes  ;  these  facts  appear  to  be  decisive,  and  to  establish  the 
correctness  of  the  common  opinion.  Should  the  conclusion  be 
admitted ;  we  cannot  wonder,  that  wheat  and  rye  should  be 
blasted,  wherever  these  bushes  abound, 

A  labouring  man,  attached  to  the  family  of  Mr.  Williams,  our 
host  in  this  town  [Marlborough],  informed  me,  that  in  Mr. 
Williams's  garden  a  barberry-bush  grew  in  the  wall  a  number  of 
years ;  that  during  this  period  esculent  roots,  although  frequently 
planted  near  it,  never  came  to  such  a  degree  of  perfection,  as  to 
be  fit  for  use  ;  that  such,  as  grew  at  all,  appeared  to  be  lean  and 
shrivelled,  as  if  struggling  with  the  influence  of  an  unfriendly 
climate ;  that  the  wall  was  afterwards  removed,  and  the  bush 
entirely  eradicated ;  that  in  the  first  succeeding  season  such 
roots  flourished  perfectly  well  on  the  same  spot,  and  were  of  a 


BARBERRIES  AND   WHEAT  331 

good  quality;  and  that,  ever  since,  they  had  grown,  year  by 
year  to  the  same  perfection.  My  informant  added,  that  the  soil 
was  very  rich,  and  throughout  every  other  part  of  the  garden  was 
always  entirely  suited  to  the  growth  of  these  vegetables ;  and 
that  it  was  not  more  highly  manured,  after  the  removal  of  the 
bush,  than  before.  This  is  the  only  instance  of  the  kind,  within 
my  knowledge.  If  there  be  no  errour  in  the  account ;  it  indi- 
cates, that  the  barberry-bush  has  an  unfavourable  influence  on 
other  vegetable  productions,  beside  wheat  and  rye.1 

President  Dwight,  then,  was  familiar  with  the  evil  repu- 
tation of  the  barberry,  but  he  was  too  philosophical  a 
thinker  to  accept  what  he  heard  without  scrutiny.  His 
account  of  the  matter  is  a  good  instance  of  scientific 
elimination  resulting  in  a  non-plus. 

Lieutenant  John  Harriott,  who  scrutinized  New  England, 
in  1794,  with  the  experienced  eye  of  a  scientific  farmer, 
thoroughly  acquainted  with  agriculture  in  the  mother 
country,  was  by  no  means  satisfied  with  the  current 
theory.  He  writes  :  — 

The  soil,  in  the  interior  country,  is  best  calculated  for  Indian 
corn,  rye,  oats,  barley,  buckwheat,  and  flax.  In  some  of  the 
farther  inland  parts,  wheat  is  raised  ;  but,  on  the  sea-coast,  it 
has  never  been  cultivated  with  much  success,  being  subject  to 
blasts.  Various  reasons  are  assigned  for  this :  some  suppose 
these  blasts  to  be  occasioned  by  the  saline  vapours  from  the 
sea ;  but  I  can  not  agree  to  this,  well  knowing  that  many  of  the 
best  wheats  that  are  grown  in  England,  in  quantity  and  quality, 
are  from  sea-marshes  and  lands  adjoining  the  sea.  Others  attri- 
bute it  to  the  vicinity  of  Barberry-bushes,  to  the  truth  of  which 
I  cannot  speak.  But  the  principal  cause  appeared  to  me  to  be 
the  poverty  and  sandy  nature  of  the  soil  in  general,  together  with 
exceedingly  bad  management.2 

1  Travels  in  New-England  and  New-York,  I,  381-3;  cf.  I,  376. 

2  Struggles  through  Life,  London,  1807,  II,  32-33. 


332      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Subsequent  experiments,  undertaken  about  1825  by 
the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Society  seemed  to  show 
that  the  failure  of  the  crop  was  due,  in  part,  to  the  kind 
of  wheat  cultivated,  and  that  the  substitution  of  spring  or 
summer  wheat  for  winter  wheat  would  be  advantageous.1 
However,  the  course  of  empire  soon  made  it  clear  that 
New  England  was  not  to  be  its  own  granary.  The  question 
ceased  to  be  of  much  practical  importance,  and  the  inno- 
cent barberry  bush  gradually  lost  its  bad  eminence  in  the 
farmer's  mind.2 

1  Davis's  edition  of  Morton's  Memorial,  p.  321. 

2  In  1832  Wilkinson  notices  the  belief  in  his  History  of  Maine,  I,  114: 
"  Berberis  vulgaris.     It  is  said  Corn  will  not  fill  well  near  it." 


INDIAN   TALK 

WHAT  kind  of  English  did   the  Indians  speak  in 
New  England?     This  is  a  thorny  subject,   but 
not  without  charms   for  the  investigator.     The 
Almanac  for  1797  contains  an  anecdote  which  appears  to 
have  a  certain  value  in  this  regard.     Anyhow,  it  is  good 
enough  to  repeat :  — 

AX  Indian  who  was  appointed  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  issued 
the  following  WARRANT.  —  Me  High  Howder,  yu  constable,  yu 
deputy,  best  way  yu  look  um  Jeremiah  Wicket,  strong  yu  take 
um,  fast  yu  hold  um,  quick  yu  bring  um  before  me, 

Captain  Howder. 

At  first  glance,  this  alleged  Indian  warrant  looks  like  a 
bit  of  white  man's  facetiousness  and  nothing  more.  But 
one  should  not  be  so  hasty.  A  little  searching  reveals  the 
existence  of  a  somewhat  complicated  tradition. 

Another  version  was  printed  by  Judge  John  Davis,  in 
1826,  in  his  edition  of  Nathaniel  Morton's  New  England's 
Memorial : l  — 

At  the  Courts  in  Barnstable  County,  formerly,  we  often  heard 
from  our  aged  friends  and  from  the  Vineyard  gentlemen,  amus- 
ing anecdotes  of  Indian  rulers.  The  following  warrant  is  recol- 
lected, which  was  issued  by  one  of  those  magistrates  directed  to 
an  Indian  Constable,  and  will  not  suffer  in  comparison  with  our 
more  verbose  forms. 

1  P.  415- 


334      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

I  Hihoudi, 

You  Peter  Waterman, 
Jeremy  Wicket ; 
Quick  you  take  him, 
Fast  you  hold  him, 
Straight  you  bring  him, 
Before  me,  Hihoudi. 

Mr.  Davis  was  at  Barnstable  as  a  tutor  in  the  family  of 
Gen.  James  Otis  shortly  after  his  graduation  from  college 
in  1781,  and  he  began  the  practice  of  law  at  Plymouth  in 
I787.1  The  chances  are  that  he  heard  this  anecdote 
before  1800.  His  version  of  the  writ,  as  well  as  that  in  the 
Almanac,  obviously  represents  an  Old  Colony  tradition. 
Hihoudi,  or  High  Howder,  has  not  been  identified,  though 
a  friendly  red  man  called  How  Doe  Yee  is  mentioned  in 
the  Plymouth  Colony  Records.2  Wicket  is  a  familiar  In- 
dian name,3  perpetuated  in  the  designation  of  Wicket 
Island  in  Onset  Bay. 

There  is,  however,  another  tradition  which  ascribes  the 
eccentric  writ  to  Waban,  or  Thomas  Waban,  and  which, 
as  we  shall  see  in  a  moment,  is  closely  connected  with  the 
history  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay.  Dr.  William 
Allen,  President  of  Bowdoin  College,  in  the  second  edition 
of  his  American  Biographical  and  Historical  Dictionary, 
published  in  1832,  gives  the  warrant  as  follows:  — 

You,  you  big  constable,  quick  you  catch  urn  Jeremiah  Off- 
scow,  strong  you  hold  um,  safe  you  bring  urn  afore  me. 

Waban,  justice  peace.4 

1  See  his  biography  by  Dr.  Francis,  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  3rd  Series, 
X,  187-8. 

2  March  6,  1676-7,  V,  225. 

8  For  instance,  Simon  Wickett  of  Pocasset,  mentioned  in  the  Plymouth 
Colony  Records  in  1679  (VI,  16). 

4  P.  741,  article  Waban.  This  article  is  not  in  the  first  edition  of  the 
Dictionary  (1809). 


INDIAN   TALK  335 

Dr.  Allen  publishes  another  anecdote  about  this  same 
official,  which,  however,  occurs  in  a  somewhat  more  lively 
form  in  William  Biglow's  History  of  Natick,  1830,  along 
with  the  warrant.  Since  Mr.  Biglow  appeals  directly  to 
the  "  authority  of  tradition  "  and  does  not  appear  to  have 
derived  his  material  from  Dr.  Allen,  it  is  worth  while  to 
reproduce  his  exact  words :  — 

The  following  is  handed  down  as  a  true  copy  of  a  warrant, 
issued  by  an  Indian  magistrate.  —  "  You,  you  big  constable,  quick 
you  catchum  Jeremiah  Offscow,  strong  you  holdum,  safe  you 
bringum  afore  me. 

"  THOMAS  WABAN,  Justice  peace." 

When  Waban  became  superannuated,  a  younger  magistrate 
was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  Cherishing  that  respect  for  age 
and  long  experience,  for  which  the  Indians  are  remarkable,  the 
new  officer  waited  on  the  old  one  for  advice.  Having  stated 
a  variety  of  cases  and  received  satisfactory  answers,  he  at  length 
proposed  the  following  :  —  "  when  Indians  get  drunk  and  quarrel 
and  fight  and  act  like  Divvil,  what  you  do  dan?  "  —  "  Hah  !  tie 
um  all  up,  and  whip  um  plaintiff,  whip  urn  fendant  and  whip  um 
witness."1 

Mr.  Biglow,  it  will  be  observed,  gives  the  justice's  name 
as  Thomas  Waban,  whereas  Dr.  Allen  calls  him  Waban 
pure  and  simple.  The  discrepancy  is  of  some  moment. 
The  two  names  are  not  identical,  but  belong  to  different 
generations,  —  Waban  was  the  father  and  Thomas  Waban 
the  son.  Both  were  inhabitants  of  Natick,  and  both  were 
men  of  note  in  their  day.  Let  us  see  if  we  can  get  any 
light  on  the  subject  of  this  Natick  legend  by  an  appeal  to 
authenticated  history. 

Old  Waban  is  a  famous  character  in  New  England 
annals.  He  was  well  disposed  toward  Christianity  from 
the  outset,  and  it  was  in  his  wigwam  at  Nonantum,  now 

i  P.  85. 


336      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

a  part  of  Newton,  that  the  apostle  Eliot  preached  his  first 
sermon  to  the  aborigines.  The  Rev.  John  Wilson,  to 
whom  we  probably  owe  our  account  of  this  historic  service, 
speaks  of  "Waaubon"  as  "  the  chief  minister  of  Justice 
among  them,"  and  remarks  that  he  "  gives  more  grounded 
hopes  of  serious  respect  to  the  things  of  God,  then  any  that 
as  yet  I  have  knowne  of  that  forlorne  generation."  The 
meeting  took  place  on  October  28th,  1646,*  and  the  site 
of  the  wigwam  is  approximately  marked  by  an  inscription 
on  Eliot  Terrace,  a  memorial  structure  dedicated  a  few 
years  ago.  In  another  place  Wilson  describes  Waban  as 
"  a  man  of  gravitie  and  chiefe  prudence  and  counsell 
among  them,  although  no  Sacliem"  and  as  "  like  to  bee 
a  meanes  of  great  good  to  the  rest  of  his  company  unlesse 
cowardise  or  witchery  put  an  end  (as  usually  they  have 
done)  to  such  hopefull  beginnings."  2  By  "  witchery  "  Wil- 
son means  of  course  the  diabolical  arts  of  the  powwows,  or 
Indian  wizards,  whose  influence  was  constantly  exerted  to 
thwart  the  efforts  of  the  missionaries,  and  whom  both 
Indians  and  white  men  believed  to  have  direct  communion 
with  the  devil  and  his  angels.3  We  have  John  Eliot's  own 
evidence  that  Waban  was  his  earliest  convert :  —  "  Waban 
was  the  first  that  received  the  gospel."  4 

In  1650,  at  the  instance  of  Eliot,  the  praying  Indians 
received  a  grant  of  the  township  of  Natick,  and  a  fort  and 
one  dwelling  house  were  built.5  The  actual  settlement  of 
the  new  town  took  place  in  the  following  year,  when,  still 
under  Eliot's  direction,  a  form  of  government  was  adopted. 

1  [John  Wilson?]  The  Day-Breaking,  if  not  the  Sun-Rising  of  the  Gospell 
with  the  Indians  in  New-England,  London,  1647,  P-  *• 

2  The  same,  p.  20. 

3  Cf.  pp.  108  ff.,  above. 

4  Eliot,  as  quoted  by  John  Dunton,  Letters  from  New-England,  1686,  ed. 
Whitmore,  1867,  p.  234. 

5  Eliot,  A  Late  and  Further  Manifestation  of  the  Progress  of  the  Gospel, 
€tc.,  London,  1655,  p.  3. 


INDIAN   TALK  337 

The  Indians  "  chose  among  themselves  Rulers  often,  fifty, 
and  an  hundred,  according  to  the  holy  Patterne  "  in  the 
eighteenth  chapter  of  Exodus.1  VVaban  was  elected  a 
Ruler  of  Fifty  and  we  have  the  word  of  Eliot  himself  that 
he  governed  well,  for,  writes  the  apostle  in  1652,  "  his 
gift  lay  in  Ruling,  Judging  of  Cases,  wherein  he  is  patient, 
constant,  and  prudent,  insomuch  that  he  is  much  respected 
among  them."  2  Subsequently  Waban  became  the  leading 
man  in  the  Natick  community,  and  he  is  so  designated  in 
1674  by  Major  Gookin,  who  remarks  that  he  "  is  now 
above  70  years  of  age  "  and  "  a  person  of  great  prudence 
and  piety,"  adding  "  I  do  not  know  any  Indian  that  excels 
him."  3  He  was  the  steadfast  friend  of  the  white  men.  In 
April,  1675,  as  Gookin  tells  us,  "Waban,  the  principal 
Ruler  of  the  praying  Indians  living  at  Natick,  came  to 
one  of  the  Magistrates  on  purpose,  and  informed  him  that 
he  had  ground  to  fear  that  Sachem  Philip  and  other  In- 
dians .  .  .  intended  some  mischief  shortly  to  the  English 
and  Christian  Indians,"  and  "  again,  in  May,  about  six 
weeks  before  the  war  began,  he  came  again  and  renewed 
the  same."  4 

The  nature  of  Waban's  authority  as  a  Ruler  of  Fifty,  and 
later  as  the  chief  man  of  Natick,  is  sufficiently  indicated 
by  an  order  of  the  General  Court,  passed  in  1647,  the  Year 
after  Eliot's  first  sermon  in  the  wigwam  at  Nonantum.  It 
is  here  given  as  printed  by  Thomas  Shepard :  — 

Vpon  information  that  the  Indians  dwelling  among  us,  and 
submitted  to  our  government,  being  by  the  Ministry  of  the  Word 
brought  to  some  civility,  are  desirous  to  have  a  course  of  ordinary 

1  Eliot,  as  above,  p.  3. 

2  Confessions  of  Indians,  in  Eliot   and  Mayhew,  Tears  of  Repentance, 
London,  1653,  p.  8. 

3  Historical  Collections  of  the  Indians  in  New  England,  Mass.  Hist.  Soc. 
Coll.,  I,  184. 

4  Historical  Account,  Coll.  Am.  Antiq.  Soc.,  II,  440-1. 


338       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Judicature  set  up  among  them  :  It  is  therefore  ordered  by  au- 
thority of  this  Court,  that  some  one  or  more  of  the  Magistrates, 
as  they  shall  agree  amongst  themselves,  shall  once  every  quarter 
keep  a  Court  at  such  place,  where  the  Indians  ordinarily  assemble 
to  hear  the  Word  of  God,  and  may  then  hear  and  determine  all 
causes  both  civill  and  criminall,  not  being  capitall,  concerning  the 
Indians  only,  and  that  the  Indian  Sachims  shall  have  libertie  to 
take  order  in  the  nature  of  Summons  or  Attachments,  to  bring 
any  of  their  own  people  to  the  said  Courts,  and  to  keep  a  Court 
of  themselves,  every  moneth  if  they  see  occasion,  to  determine 
small  causes  of  a  civill  nature,  and  such  smaller  criminall  causes, 
as  the  said  Magistrates  shall  referre  to  them  ;  and  the  said  Sachims 
shall  appoint  Officers  to  serve  Warrants,  and  to  execute  the  Orders 
and  Judgements  of  either  of  the  said  Courts,  which  Officers 
shall  from  time  to  time  bee  allowed  [i.  e.,  approved]  by  the 
said  Magistrates  in  the  quarter  Courts  or  by  the  Governour :  And 
that  all  fines  to  bee  imposed  upon  any  Indian  in  any  of  the  said 
Courts,  shall  goe  and  bee  bestowed  towards  the  building  of  some 
meeting  houses,  for  education  of  their  poorer  children  in  learning, 
or  other  publick  use,  by  the  advice  of  the  said  Magistrates  and 
of  Master  Eliot,  or  of  such  other  Elder,  as  shall  ordinarily  instruct 
them  in  the  true  Religion.  And  it  is  the  desire  of  this  Court, 
that  these  Magistrates  and  Mr.  Eliot  or  such  other  Elders  as  shall 
attend  the  keeping  of  the  said  Courts  will  carefully  indeavour  to 
make  the  Indians  understand  our  most  usefull  Lawes,  and  the 
principles  of  reason,  justice  and  equity  whereupon  they  are 
grounded,  &  it  is  desired  that  some  care  may  be  taken  of  the 
Indians  on  the  Lords  dayes.1 

The  founders  of  the  Massachusetts  Bay  Colony  were 
remarkable  in  many  ways, — this  may  be  asserted  without 
fear  of  contradiction,  even  from  those  historical  students 
who  have  a  fancy  to  be  iconoclastic,  —  and  not  the  least 
noteworthy  of  their  traits  was  an  unusual  capacity  for 

1  The  Clear  Sun-shine  of  the  Gospel,  London,  1648,  pp.  15-16.  The  text 
in  the  Colony  Records,  III,  105-6,  differs  slightly. 


INDIAN  TALK  339 

knowing  precisely  what  they  were  about.  It  was  no  acci- 
dent, for  instance,  that  the  Massachusetts  Charter  con- 
tained no  reference  to  control  by  a  board  of  directors  in 
England.  It  was  the  outcome  of  a  carefully  laid  plan. 
The  colonists  had  no  doubt  of  their  ability  to  govern  them- 
selves, and  they  meant  to  try  the  experiment  without  in- 
terference. They  were  ready  to  meet  each  exigency  as 
it  arose,  and,  though  it  would  be  absurd  to  maintain  that 
they  never  made  a  mistake,  it  is  certain  that  their  valiant 
common  sense,  which  declined  to  worry  overmuch  about 
the  exact  boundaries  of  precedent,  produced  a  form  of 
democracy  which  is  likely  to  maintain  itself.  Their  tem- 
per toward  the  savages,  as  shown  in  the  law  just  quoted, 
was  in  entire  accord  with  their  general  habit  of  mind.  If 
the  Indians  wished  to  be  civilized,  the  Colony  was  willing 
to  do  its  part,  and  to  that  end  it  had  no  hesitation  in  en- 
trusting them,  under  proper  supervision,  with  a  consider- 
able measure  of  local  self-government. 

The  order  of  1647  went  into  effect  immediately.  The 
account  of  its  operation  given  by  Gookin  in  his  Historical 
Collections  (1674)  is  admirably  clear  and  concise:  — 

Forasmuch  as  a  pious  magistracy  and  Christian  government  is 
a  great  help  and  means  for  promoting,  cherishing,  encouraging, 
and  propagating,  the  Christian  religion  among  any  people,  espe- 
cially a  nation  so  circumstanced,  as  these  rude,  uncultivated,  and 
barbarous  Indians  were ;  care  was  taken  by  the  general  court  of 
the  Massachusetts,  at  the  motion  of  Mr.  Eliot,  to  appoint  some 
of  the  most  prudent  and  pious  Indians,  in  every  Indian  village 
that  had  received  the  gospel,  to  be  rulers  and  magistrates  among 
them,  to  order  their  affairs  both  civil  and  criminal,  and  of  a  more 
ordinary  and  inferiour  nature.  These  rulers  were  chosen  by 
themselves,  but  approved  by  a  superiour  authority. 

But  moreover  the  general  court  appointed  and  empowered 
one  of  the  English  magistrates,  to  join  with  the  chief  of  their 
rulers,  and  keep  a  higher  court  among  them ;  extending  the 


34Q       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

power  of  this  court  to  the  latitude  of  a  county  court  among  the 
English ;  from  the  jurisdiction  whereof  nothing  for  good  order 
and  government,  civil  or  criminal,  is  excepted,  but  appeals,  life, 
limb,  banishment,  and  cases  of  divorce.  The  first  English  magis- 
trate, chosen  to  be  ruler  over  the  praying  Indians  in  the  colony 
of  Massachusetts,  was  first  Mr.  D.  G.  the  author  of  these  Collec- 
tions; and  this  was  in  A.  D.  1656.  But  not  long  after  his  occa- 
sions called  him  for  England  for  two  or  three  years ;  one  Major 
Humphrey  Atherton  was  appointed  to  conduct  this  affair,  which 
he  did  about  three  years.  But  then  the  Lord  taking  him  to  him- 
self, by  death,  and  the  author  being  returned  back,  in  the  year 
1660,  a  year  or  more  before  Major  Atherton's  death,  was  again 
called  and  reinstated  in  that  employ  A.  D.  1661,  and  hath  con- 
tinued in  that  work  hitherto.1 

Evidently,  then,  on  the  establishment  of  the  civil  polity 
contemplated  in  this  decree,  VVaban  became  a  kind  of  judge 
and  held  office  under  the  authority  of  the  Colony.  In  1674 
there  were  several  other  "  rulers  "  at  Natick,  but  they  were 
subordinate  to  Waban,  and  there  were  also  two  "  con- 
stables," chosen  yearly.2  By  this  time  several  other  In- 
dian towns  had  been  organized,  on  the  model  of  Natick, 
with  rulers,  constables,  and  teachers.  There  was  also 
"  a  marshal  general  belonging  to  all  the  praying  Indian 
towns,  called  Captain  Josiah,  or  Pennahannit." 3  Gookin 
gives  a  full  account  of  these  settlements,  and  has  put  on 
record  the  names  of  many  of  the  rulers  and  of  certain  con- 
stables. At  one  of  the  new  settlements,  Chabanakongko- 
mun,  now  Dudley,  we  learn  of  one  "  Black  James,  who 
about  a  year  since  was  constituted  constable  of  all  these 
new  praying  towns."  Gookin  declares  that  "  he  is  a  person 
that  hath  approved  himself  diligent  and  courageous,  faith- 

1  Historical  Collections  of  the  Indians  in  New  England,    Coll.    Mass. 
Hist.  Soc.,  1792,  I,  177. 

2  Gookin,  Historical  Collections,  p.  184. 
8  The  same,  p.  184. 


INDIAN  TALK  341 

ful  and  zealous  to  suppress  sin." l  According  to  Eliot, 
Black  James  "  was  in  former  times  reputed  by  the  English 
to  be  a  Pawaw "  or  wizard,  but  this  the  conscientious 
apostle  refuses  to  assert  or  deny  of  his  own  knowledge. 
"  I  know,"  he  writes,  "  he  renounced  and  repented  of  all 
his  former  ways ;  and  desired  to  come  to  Christ,  and  pray 
to  God;  and  dyed  well."2 

The  clearest  idea  of  the  relations  of  the  various  Indian 
officers  to  each  other  and  to  the  supervisory  magistrate 
may  be  had  from  Gookin's  report  of  two  courts  held  by 
him  in  1674.  For  our  first  example  we  may  take  the  pro- 
ceedings at  Wabquissit,  now  a  part  of  Woodstock,  Con- 
necticut. First  came  religious  exercises  conducted  by 
Eliot  and  a  native  teacher  known  as  Sampson:  — 

Then  I  began  a  court  among  the  Indians.  And  first  I  approved 
their  teacher  Sampson,  and  their  constable  Black  James ;  giving 
each  of  them  a  charge  to  be  diligent  and  faithful  in  their  places. 
Also  I  exhorted  the  people  to  yield  obedience  to  the  gospel  of 
Christ  and  to  those  set  in  order  there.  Then  published  a  warrant 
or  order,  that  I  had  prepared,  empowering  the  constable  to  sup- 
press drunkenness,  sabbath  breaking,  especially  powowing  and 
idolatry.  And  after  warning  given,  to  apprehend  all  delinquents, 
and  bring  them  before  authority,  to  answer  for  their  misdoings  : 
the  smaller  faults  to  bring  before  Wattasacompanum,  ruler  of  the 
Nipmuck  country;  for  idolatry  and  powowing  to  bring  them 
before  me  :  So  we  took  leave  of  this  people  of  Wabquissit,  and 
about  eleven  o'clock,  returned  back  to  Maanexit  and  Chabana- 
kongkomun,  where  we  lodged  this  night.8 

Again,  at  Pakachoog,  now  apparently  a  part  of 
Worcester:  — 

1  Gookin,  Historical  Collections,  p.  190. 

2  Eliot,  as  quoted  by  John  Dunton,  Letters  from  New-England,  1686,  ed. 
Whitmore,  1867,  p.  241. 

3  Historical  Collections  of  the  Indians  in  New  England,  1674,  Coll.  Mass. 
Hist.  Soc.,  1792,  I,  192. 


342       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

After  some  short  respite,  a  court  was  kept  among  them.  My 
chief  assistant  was  Wattasacompanum,  ruler  of  the  Nipmuck 
Indians,  a  grave  and  pious  man,  of  the  chief  sachem's  blood  of 
the  Nipmuck  country.  He  resides  at  Hassanamesitt ;  but  by 
former  appointment,  calleth  here,  together  with  some  others. 
The  principal  matter  done  at  this  court,  was,  first  to  constitute 
John  and  Solomon  to  be  rulers  of  this  people  and  co-ordinate  in 
power,  clothed  with  the  authority  of  the  English  government, 
which  they  accepted  :  also  to  allow  and  approve  James  Speen 
for  their  minister.  .  .  Also  they  chose,  and  the  court  confirmed, 
a  new  constable,  a  grave  and  sober  Indian,  called  Mattoonus. 
Then  I  gave  both  the  rulers,  teacher,  constable,  and  people, 
their  respective  charges;  to  be  diligent  and  faithful  for  God, 
zealous  against  sin,  and  careful  in  sanctifying  the  sabbath.1 

The  constable's  sign  of  office  was  a  black  staff.2  Of 
course  he  sometimes  encountered  resistance,  especially 
when  there  was  a  conflict  of  authority  between  the  old 
order  and  the  new.  A  lively  scene  of  this  kind  is  described 
by  Gookin.  One  Petavit,  alias  Robin,  "ruler"  at  Hassa- 
namesitt (Grafton),  was  visited  by  a  sagamore  from  the 
"  inland  country,"  who  thought  himself  exempt  from  the 
novel  jurisdiction.  The  visitor  brought  with  him  "  a  rundlet 
of  strong  liquors."  Next  morning  Petavit  "  sent  for  the 
constable,  and  ordered  him,  and  according  to  law,  seized 
the  rundlet  of  liquors.  At  which  act  the  sagamore  drew  a 
long  knife,  and  stood  with  his  foot  at  the  rundlet,  daring 
any  to  seize  it.  But  Petavit  thereupon  rose  up  and  drew 
his  knife,  and  set  his  foot  also  to  the  rundlet,  and  com- 
manded the  constable  to  do  his  office.  And  the  saga- 
more "  .  .  .  .3  Here  there  is  an  unlucky  hiatus  in  the 
story,  but  the  context  makes  it  clear  that  the  undaunted 
Petavit  carried  his  point. 

1  Historical  Collections  of  the  Indians  in  New  England,  1674,  Coll.  Mass. 
Hist.  Soc.,  1792,  I,  193. 

2  The  same,  p.  194.  8  The  same,  p.  191. 


INDIAN  TALK  343 

But  we  must  return  to  Waban,  for  in  illustrating  his 
position  and  defining  the  scope  of  his  authority  we  have 
almost  lost  sight  of  the  venerable  ruler  himself.  As  we 
have  seen,  he  had  twice  given  the  English  warning  of  the 
hostilities  contemplated  by  King  Philip.  When  the  war 
broke  out,  the  praying  Indians  contributed  their  quota  to 
the  Colonial  forces.  Yet  they  were  looked  upon  with 
suspicion,  and  finally,  in  October,  1675,  the  whole  body 
of  the  Natick  Indians,  with  their  ruler  Waban,  were  trans- 
ported to  Deer  Island,  where  they  were  soon  joined  by 
those  from  Punkapog,  who  were  equally  friendly  to  the 
whites.  There  they  remained  until  the  following  spring, 
suffering  many  hardships  from  the  rigors  of  the  winter  and 
from  insufficient  food.  Disease  broke  out  among  them,  and 
Waban  and  John  Thomas,  the  principal  teacher,  who  were 
"  extreme  low  "  when  they  were  brought  back  to  the  main- 
land, recovered  their  health  with  difficulty.  "  Had  they 
died,"  writes  Major  Gookin,  "  it  would  have  been  a  great 
weakening  to  the  work  of  God  among  them." l  When  at 
last  they  had  been  allowed  to  return  to  Natick,  a  court  was 
held  by  Gookin,  at  which  Eliot  was  present.  Waban's 
speech  on  this  occasion  has  been  preserved,  in  translation. 
It  is  too  creditable  to  the  old  ruler  to  be  omitted  here :  — 

We  do,  with  all  thankfulness,  acknowledge  God's  great  good- 
ness to  us,  in  preserving  us  alive  to  this  day.  Formerly,  in  our 
beginning  to  pray  unto  God,  we  received  much  encouragement 
from  many  godly  English,  both  here  and  in  England.  Since  the 
war  begun  between  the  English  and  wicked  Indians,  we  expected 
to  be  all  cut  off,  not  only  by  the  enemy  Indians,  whom  we  know 
hated  us,  but  also  by  many  English,  who  were  much  exasperated 
and  very  angry  with  us.  In  this  case,  we  cried  to  God,  in  prayer, 
for  help.  Then  God  stirred  up  the  governor  and  magistrates  to 
send  us  to  the  Island,  which  was  grievous  to  us ;  for  we  were 

1  Gookin,  Historical  Account,  pp.  474,  485,  517. 


344      THE  °LD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

forced  to  leave  all  our  substance  behind  us,  and  we  expected 
nothing  else  at  the  Island,  but  famine  and  nakedness.  But 
behold  God's  goodness  to  us  and  our  poor  families,  in  stirring 
up  the  hearts  of  many  godly  persons  in  England,  who  never  saw 
us,  yet  showed  us  kindness  and  much  love,  and  gave  us  some 
corn  and  clothing,  together  with  other  provision  of  clams,  that 
God  provided  for  us.  Also,  in  due  time,  God  stirred  up  the 
hearts  of  the  governor  and  magistrates,  to  call  forth  some  of  our 
brethren  to  go  forth  to  fight  against  the  enemy  both  to  us  and  the 
English,  and  was  pleased  to  give  them  courage  and  success  in 
that  service,  unto  the  acceptance  of  the  English;  for  it  was 
always  in  our  hearts  to  endeavour  to  do  all  we  could,  to  demon- 
strate our  fidelity  to  God  and  to  the  English,  and  against  their 
and  our  enemy ;  and  for  all  these  things,  we  desire  God  only 
may  be  glorified.1 

The  date  of  old  Waban's  death  is  uncertain,  but  he  was 
alive  in  May,  1682,  being  then  about  eighty  years  old.2  He 
must  have  died  before  1684;  otherwise  he  would  unques- 
tionably have  joined  in  the  Groton  deed  of  that  year.3 

From  what  has  been  said  it  is  clear  enough  that  Waban 
exercised  a  considerable  measure  of  judicial  authority 
among  the  Natick  Indians  and  had  constables  under  him, 
so  that  we  have  no  difficulty  in  understanding  how  a 
tradition  might  arise  that  he  was  a  regular  Justice  of  the 
Peace ;  but  it  is  evident  that  he  never  actually  held  that 
precise  commission.  That  he  did  not  issue  the  warrant 
so  often  ascribed  to  him  is  easy  to  prove.  For  Waban 
did  not  know  how  to  write.  Several  deeds  are  on  record 
which  bear  his  signature  ;  but  it  is  always  a  "  mark." 
We  must  therefore  pass  on  to  his  son,  Thomas  Waban, 

1  Gookin,  Historical  Account,  p.  522. 

2  Cf.  Gookin's  report  to  the  Council,  Nov.  10,  1676,  in  Trans,  and  Coll. 
American  Antiq.  Soc.,  II  (1836),  532,  with  his  Historical  Collections,  Coll. 
Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1, 184,  and  Mass.  Colony  Records,  V,  353. 

3  See  p.  345,  below. 


INDIAN  TALK  345 

whom  one  form  of  the  tradition  designates  as  responsible 
for  the  picturesquely  expressed  document  that  we  are 
investigating. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Thomas  Waban  was  old 
Waban's  son.  It  was  a  regular  practice  for  a  converted 
Indian  to  adopt  the  name  of  his  father  as  a  surname  and 
to  receive  a  Christian  name  at  baptism.  When  Eliot  and 
his  three  companions  visited  Waban's  wigwam  to  hold 
their  first  service  (October  28,  1646),  they  found  Waban's 
eldest  son  "  standing  by  his  father  among  the  rest  of  his 
Indian  brethren  in  English  clothes."  And  later,  according 
to  the  same  authority,  Waban  voluntarily  offered  this  son 
"  to  be  educated  and  trained  up  in  the  knowledge  of  God 
hoping,  as  hee  told  us,  that  he  might  come  to  know  him, 
though  hee  despaired  much  concerning  himself."  The 
offer  was  accepted  and  the  boy  was  sent  to  school  at 
Dedham.1  His  English  learning  is  thus  accounted  for. 
We  have  Thomas  Waban's  signature  in  full  to  certain 
deeds,  notably  to  one  which  concerns  the  title  to  the  town 
of  Groton,  Massachusetts.  In  1683,  three  years  before 
the  "  usurpation  "  of  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  the  inhabitants 
of  Groton,  feeling  that  the  charter  of 'the  Massachusetts 
Bay  Company  might  be  abrogated  at  any  moment,  took 
measures  to  secure  a  conveyance  from  the  former  Indian 
proprietors  of  their  township.  The  outcome  of  their 
negotiations  was  a  deed  from  Thomas  Waban  and  others, 
which  is  on  record  in  the  Middlesex  Registry  at  East 
Cambridge.2  It  is  dated  January  10,  1683-4,  and,  though 
the  other  grantors  make  their  marks,  Thomas  Waban 
signs  his  name.  In  1684  twenty-eight  Indians  presented 
a  petition  to  the  General  Court,  complaining  that  "  Thomas 
Woban  "  and  others  are  "  appropriating  to  themselves " 

1  The  Day- Breaking,  London,  1647,  P-  *• 

2  Printed  by  Dr.  Samuel  A.  Green,  Groton  during  the  Indian  Wars, 
Groton,  1883,  pp.   183-5. 


346  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Indian  land  and  selling  it  and  "  keeping  all  the  pay  to 
themselves,"  and  are  claiming  other  lands  as  well.1  Obvi- 
ously, as  Dr.  Green  suggests,  the  more  intelligent  natives 
were  taking  advantage  of  the  fears  of  the  settlers  to  turn 
an  honest  penny,  and  their  acts  excited  some  jealousy 
among  those  of  their  fellows  who  thought  they  did  not 
get  a  fair  share  of  the  proceeds.  We  must  remember 
that  the  petition  is  an  ex  parte  document.  It  shows  that 
Thomas  Waban  was  a  leading  man  in  his  community  and 
a  person  of  some  enterprise  ;  but  we  should  not  let  the 
mere  fact  of  this  petition  lower  him  in  our  esteem. 

Thomas  Waban,  like  his  father,  lived  at  Natick,  and 
the  records  of  that  town  from  1700  to  1735,  fragmentary 
though  they  are,  bear  evidence  enough  of  his  literary  attain- 
ments. They  are  partly  in  Indian,  partly  in  English,  and 
many  of  them  are  signed  "  Thomas  Waban,  Town  Clerk." 
Here  is  a  specimen  of  his  skill  in  both  languages :  2 

The  Town  Acts  of  Natick  in  1 8'.h  Aprill  1715  —  You  you 
matta  wonk  Howan.  vemmakko  oh  mehtukq  vn  :  wattuhkonnaut 
wutch  you :  oh  quombot  toh  neit  Howan  washont :  Chekewe 
nee  :  wuttisseen  :  makkow  mehtukquash  :  vnnee  wattuhkonaut  noh 
pish  oattehwaw  :  twenty  Shillings  :  wutche  pasuk  mehtukq  —  you 
unni  nashpee  Tho.  Waban  :  Town  Clerk  you  ut 

you :  vnnoomattooonk  — 

At  a  Generall  Town  meeting  Natick  upon  i8th  day  Aprill 
1 7 i5th  —  Then  we  are  all  agreed  and  mad  law  amongs1  us  our 
selues  that  non  of  us  shall  seel  any  Timber  not  to  ye  English  if 
any  of  us  do  seal  any  Timber  he  shall  foruit  twenty  Shillings  to 
the  Town  vse  and  pay  to  the  Town  next  meeting  after 
as  Attesd  by  Me  Thomas  Waban  Town  Clerk 

1  Mass.  Archives,  XXX,  287  ;  printed  by  Dr.  Green,  as  above,  p.  187. 

2  From  the   original  record.     The  edges  of  the  MS.  being  somewhat 
damaged,  a  few  words  and  letters  are  supplied  from  the  copy  given  by 
William  Biglow,  History  of  Natick,  Boston,  1830,  p.  21.     Biglow's  text  is 
very  incorrect. 


*.•_, ... _,,•  •''• 


INDIAN  TALK  347 

The  English  in  this  case  is  in  effect  the  town  clerk's 
own  translation  of  the  Indian. 

Thomas  Waban's  English  Records  may  seem  grotesque, 
but  they  are  hardly  more  so  than  some  entries  made  by 
white  town  clerks  of  the  period.  The  following  is  selected, 
inasmuch  as  it  has  to  do  with  a  transaction  in  which 
Waban  himself  was  interested.  It  is  the  vote  of  the 
town  of  Groton  which  resulted  in  securing  the  Indian 
deed  just  adverted  to. ,  In  justice  to  our  ancestors,  how- 
ever, it  should  be  remarked  that  few  town  clerks  of  the 
period  can  vie  with  Mr.  Jonathan  Morse  in  eccentricities 
of  spelling:  — 

At  a  ginarall  Town  meting  upon  25  d  10  m  1683  John  Page 
John  Parish  Insin  Lorinc 

as  you  are  Chosin  a  comity  for  and  in  the  behalf  of  the  Towne 
you  are  desiered  for  too  proue  the  Rit  and  titill  we  haue  too  our 
Tooun  ship  by  all  the  legall  testimony  which  can  be  procuerid 
when  the  Toown  is  sent  too  by  aney  a  Tority  and  if  aney  ingins 
can  proue  a  lagiall  titall  too  the  Remainer  of  our  Town  ship  you 
haue  power  to  by  it  at  as  easi  a  lay  as  you  can  and  mack  it  as 
sur  as  may  be  in  the  behalf  of  the  Toown  and  you  shall  haue 
Reasinabll  satisfackion  for  your  payns. 

JONATHAN  MORS  Clark 
in  the  nam  of  the  selecktmen  31  d  10  m  I6831 

From  the  Natick  records  it  appears  that  Thomas  Waban 
was  not  only  town  clerk  but  that  he  was  several  times 
chosen  as  one  of  the  selectmen.  Another  bit  of  evidence 
brings  us  still  nearer  to  the  date  of  our  first  recorded  copy 
of  the  famous  warrant,  which,  it  will  be  remembered, 
occurs  in  the  Almanac  for  1796.  In  1749  there  was  a 
census  of  the  Natick  Indians,  and  in  the  list  occur  not 
only  "  Thomas  and  Hannah  Waban "  but  also  "  Jonas 

1  Samuel  A.  Green,  Groton  during  the  Indian  Wars,  1883,  pp.  182-3. 


348      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Obscow" l  From  the  Natick  records  it  appears  that  Jonas 
Obscho  was  born  June  5th,  1739,  and  died  November  I3th, 
1805.  Now  "Jeremiah  Offscow"  is  the  person  whom  the 
constable  is  directed,  in  one  version  of  the  warrant,  to 
"  seize  quick,  hold  strong,  and  bring  safe "  before  the 
justice.  Finally,  in  1798,  the  Rev.  Jonathan  Homer 
reports,  in  his  Description  and  History  of  Newton,  that 
the  name  Waban  "  is  still  honourably  remembered  at 
Natick,  where  some  of  [old  Waban's]  posterity  were 
known  not  many  years  since.  The  name  and  civil  office 
of  Esquire  Waban,  one  of  his  descendants,  is  particularly 
mentioned."  2  Mr.  Homer's  words  are  unfortunately  rather 
vague,  but  they  allow  us,  by  an  easy  inference,  to  main- 
tain that  Thomas  Waban  was  remembered  in  his  own 
vicinity  under  the  designation  proper,  according  to  New 
England  usage,  to  a  justice  of  the  peace.  Milton  desired 
to  "call  up"  Chaucer, 

who  left  half  told 

The  story  of  Cambuscan  bold 

in  the  Squire's  Tale.  The  tale  of  "  Esquire  Waban  "  is 
hardly  important  enough  to  justify  us  in  wishing  to 
disturb  the  slumber  of  Mr.  Homer;  but  we  could  wish 
that  a  mistaken  regard  for  the  dignity  of  history  had  not 
deterred  him  from  committing  to  print  the  historic  warrant 
for  the  arrest  of  Jeremiah  (or  was  it  Jonas?)  Offscow, 
which  we  cannot  help  thinking  must  have  been  known  to 
him.3 

Judge  Samuel  Sewall  was  acquainted  with  Thomas 
Waban.  In  his  Diary,  September  28,  1715,  he  notes  :  — 
"  Went  to  Cambridge  to  meet  the  Natick  Comittee,  Waban 

1  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  X,  135. 

2  The  same,  1798,  V,  263. 

8  Another  Thomas  Waban,  undoubtedly  the  town  clerk's  son,  was  mar- 
ried at  Natick  to  Sarah  Seby,  June  6th,  1738  (Town  Records). 


INDIAN  TALK  349 

and  others.  Major  Fitch,  Mr.  Oliver  and  I  dine  with  the 
President.  I  would  have  dined  publickly  [at  the  ordi- 
nary] ;  but  the  president  declin'd  it.  I  went  in  a  Calash, 
came  home  by  Moonshine.  Accomplish  the  Bargain 
for  Magunkaquog  [Hopkinton]  land,  and  paid  Fourteen 
pounds  in  part.  Laus  Deo."  1  On  the  eleventh  of  October 
he  records:  "Went  with  Mr.  Daniel  Oliver  to  Natick; 
from  the  Falls  in  Company  with  the  President  and  Tho. 
Oliver  esqr.  and  Mr.  John  Cotton.  At  Natick  the  In- 
dians of  the  Comittee  executed  the  Parchment  Deed 
for  the  land  at  Magunkaquog :  and  paid  the  Proprietors 
Three  pounds  apiece.  'Twas  so  late,  that  when  the 
Gentlemen  return'd,  I  went  to  Sherbourn,  lodg'd  at  Cousin 
Baker's."  2 

The  Waban  mentioned  in  the  first  of  these  entries  is 
beyond  question  Thomas,  for  the  elder  Waban  died  some 
years  before.  The  point  is  made  certain  by  the  fact  that 
the  Hopkinson  Deed  is  signed  by  Thomas  Waban.  We 
owe  so  much  to  Judge  Sewall  for  what  his  famous  Diary 
contains  that  it  would  be  ungracious  to  blame  him  for  any 
particular  omission ;  yet  one  cannot  help  wishing  that  he 
had  given  us  a  few  details  about  the  Indian  committeemen 
even  if  he  had  omitted  to  record  that  he  went  to  Cam- 
bridge in  a  calash  and  came  home  by  moonshine.  He 
does,  however,  afford  us  a  gruesome  item  of  information 
about  Isaac  Nehemiah,  another  of  the  committee.  On 
the  day  after  the  signing  of  the  deed  Sewall  makes  the 
following  entry :  — 

Solomon  Thomas  acquaints  me  that  Isaac  Nehemiah,  one  of 
the  Comittee,  had  hang'd  himself.  Ask'd  what  they  should  doe. 
I  sent  him  to  the  Crowner.  A  while  after  I  went  to  Cous. 
Gookin's  in  order  to  go  home.  When  there,  Solomon  came  to 

1  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  5th  Series,  VII,  60. 

2  The  same,  p.  62. 


350      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

me  again,  and  earnestly  desired  me  to  go  and  help  them.  Mr. 
Whitney  join'd  to  solicit  for  him,  by  reason  of  the  distance  from 
Cambridge.  So  I  went,  Mr.  Baker  accompanied  me.  The  Jury 
found  Isaac  Nehemiah  to  be  Felo  de  se.  Hang'd  himself  with 
his  Girdle,  3  foot  and  4  inches  long  buckle  and  all.  'Twas  night 
before  had  done,  so  went  to  Sherbourn  again,  and  lodg'd  at 
Cousin  Gookin's.1 

It  appears,  then,  that  both  the  Old  Colony  and  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  tradition  of  the  Indian  warrant,  though 
they  may  owe  their  precise  form  to  some  jocose  white 
man,  have  manifest  touches  of  local  color.  There  were 
Indian  magistrates  who  were  similar  to  justices  of  the 
peace,  and  there  were  Indian  officers  who  were  known  as 
constables.2  There  were  Indians  named  Wicket  in  Ply- 
mouth Colony ;  there  was  a  Thomas  Waban  as  well  as  an 
Offscow  at  Natick  ;  and  it  is  barely  possible  that  Hihoudi 
is  a  form  of  the  name  How  d'  ye.  It  may  be  added  that 
Thomas  Waban  is  decorated  with  the  title  of  Captain  in 
the  Natick  town  records  of  1719,  as  Howder  is  in  one 
version  of  the  warrant. 

The  punishment  of  whipping,  which,  according  to  an- 
other anecdote,  seemed  to  Squire  Waban  appropriate 
for  plaintiff,  defendant,  and  witness  in  cases  of  drunken 
brawling,  it  was  of  course  within  the  power  of  the  native 
rulers  to  inflict.  Here  we  are  not  dependent  on  tradition. 
Again  we  have  the  word  of  John  Eliot  to  instruct  us.  In 
1654,  it  appears,  there  was  a  lamentable  occurrence. at 
Natick.  Three  mischievous  Indians  near  Watertown  had 
got  possession  of  "  severall  quarts  of  Strong-water,  which 
sundry  out  of  a  greedy  desire  of  a  little  gaine,  are  too 
ready  to  sell  unto  them,  to  the  offence  and  grief  of  the 
better  sort  of  Indians,  and  of  the  godly  English  too." 

1  Coll.  Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  5th  Series,  VII,  62. 

2  For  Indian  constables  in  Plymouth  Colony,  see  the  Records,  XI,  253, 
254,  255- 


INDIAN   TALK  351 

With  this  they  not  only  intoxicated  themselves,  but  also 
a  boy  of  eleven  years,  a  son  of  the  Indian  ruler  Tote- 
swamp.  "  Now,"  said  one  of  them,  "  we  will  see  whether 
your  father  will  punish  us  for  Drunkennesse,  seeing  you  are 
drunk  with  us  for  company."  "They  also  fought,"  adds 
Eliot,  "  and  had  been  severall  times  Punished  formerly 
for  Drunkennesse."  All  four  of  the  culprits  were  brought 
before  the  native  court,  at  which  Toteswamp  presided, 
and  the  decision  was  in  complete  agreement  with  the 
spirit  of  the  anecdote  respecting  Thomas  Waban :  — 

They  judged  the  three  men  to  sit  in  the  stocks  a  good  space  of 
time,  and  thence  to  be  brought  to  the  whipping-Post,  &  have 
each  of  them  twenty  lashes.  The  boy  to  be  put  in  the  stocks 
a  little  while,  and  the  next  day  his  father  was  to  whip  him  in  the 
School,  before  the  Children  there  ;  all  which  Judgement  was  exe- 
cuted. When  they  came  to  be  whipt,  the  Constable  fetcht  them 
one  after  another  to  the  Tree  (which  they  make  use  of  instead  of 
a  Post)  where  they  all  received  their  Punishments.1 

Two  Connecticut  sentences  from  the  eighteenth  century 
may  be  quoted,  to  show  the  close  parallel  between  these 
proceedings  and  those  which  took  place  before  colonial 
and  provincial  magistrates.  They  have  reference  to  the 
offence  of  drunkenness  and  to  that  of  selling  liquor  to  the 
Indians.  There  is  an  amusing  tit-for-tat  in  the  docu- 
ments which  reminds  one  strongly  of  the  "  whip  urn 
plaintiff,  whip  um  fendant "  of  the  Indian  squire. 

Norwich  ye  >]th  day  of  feb.  1722-3.  —  Apenanucsuck  being 
drunk  was  by  y*  Constable  brought  before  me  R.  Bushnell,  justice 
of  ye  peace  to  be  dealt  with  so  as  the  law  directs.  —  I  do  sentence 
ye  sd  Apenuchsuck  for  his  transgression  of  ye  Law,  to  pay  a  fine 
of  ten  shillings,  or  to  be  whipt  ten  Lashes  on  ye  naked  body,  and 

1  Eliot,  A  Late  and  Further  Manifestation  of  the  Progress  of  the  Gospel, 
London,  1655,  pp.  6-8. 


352      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

to  pay  the  cost  of  his  prosecution,  and  to  continue  in  ye  con- 
stable's custody  till  this  sentence  be  performed.  Cost  allowed  is 
6s.  and  6d.  R.  Bushnell,  Justice  of  ye  Peace. 

Apeanuchsuch  having  accused  Samuel  Bliss  for  selling  ye  sd 
Indian  2  pots  of  cider  this  afternoon.  Mr.  Samuel  Bliss  ap- 
peared before  me  ye  subscriber,  and  acknowledged  he  let  sd 
Indian  have  some  cider,  and  do  therefore  sentence  ye  said 
Samuel  Bliss  to  pay  a  fine  of  twenty  shillings  for  the  transgression 
of  ye  Law  to  be  disposed  of  as  ye  Law  directs. 

ffebe.  ye  yth  day,  1722-3.  R.  Bushnell,  Justice?- 

Indian  justice  of  a  less  formal  kind  appears  in  a  tradi- 
tional anecdote  of  Jacob  Spalding,  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  Killingly,  in  the  same  State.  The  incident  is  said  to 
have  occurred  in  1720:  — 

Jacob  one  day  purchased  of  an  Indian  a  deer  skin,  for  which 
he  paid  him  a  tenor  bill.  The  latter,  somewhat  intoxicated, 
forgot  soon  after  that  he  had  received  it,  and  asked  for  the 
money  a  second  time.  Jacob  of  course  paid  no  attention  to 
such  an  unwarrantable  demand,  and  the  Indian  went  away  mut- 
tering revenge.  The  next  day,  while  shingling  a  barn,  Jacob 
saw  him  returning  with  two  companions.  He  leaped  from  the 
roof,  met  them,  and  was  again  asked  to  pay  the  price  of  the  deer 
skin.  He  refused  to  comply,  till  one  of  the  company,  who  ap- 
peared to  be  the  sachem  of  his  tribe,  said  he  had  come  to  see 
"fair  play,"  and  avowed  it  to  be  honorable  for  two  Indians  to 
contend  with  one  white  man.  Jacob,  therefore,  imagined  he 
would  have  rather  a  difficult  task  to  accomplish ;  but  plucking 
up  courage,  he  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost,  and  on  the  very 
first  encounter,  laid  them  both  upon  the  ground,  and  gave  them  a 
"  sound  drubbing."  The  other,  who  was  looking  on,  was  not  at 
all  disposed  to  assist  his  brethren,  and  gave  them  no  other  en- 
couragement than  "  Poor  dogs,  poor  dogs !  me  hope  he  kill 

1  J.  W.  Barber,  Connecticut  Historical  Collections,  p.  299. 


INDIAN   TALK  353 

you  both  ! !"  However,  Jacob,  after  "pounding  them  "  a  short 
time,  suffered  them  to  escape.  But  the  next  day  he  saw  them 
coming  again,  and  the  individual  who  imagined  himself  his  cred- 
itor, bearing  a  rifle,  which  he  was  in  the  act  of  loading.  But  in 
thrusting  his  hand  into  his  pocket  to  find  the  ball,  he  drew  out 
the  identical  bill  which  he  had  received  two  days  before  !  Con- 
science-struck, he  said  to  Jacob,  who  was  coming  to  meet  him, 
"  Me  believe,  now,  Jacob,  you  paid  me  de  tenor  bill !  "  After 
this  confession,  Jacob  addressed  the  person  who  had  come  to  see 
"fair  play."  "You,"  said  he,  "that  have  come  to  see  fair  play, 
what  do  you  advise  us  to  do  with  him?  "  "Tie  him  to  de  tree  and 
whip  him,"  was  the  reply,  which  was  done  accordingly.  And  here 
a  circumstance  occurred,  which  shows  to  what  extent  the  Indians 
carried  their  principle  of  honor.  The  individual  in  question, 
after  this  humiliating  treatment,  became  so  dejected  that  he  fled 
from  his  tribe,  and  was  never  heard  of  afterwards.1 

The  rude  justice  of  the  Indians  may  be  further  exem- 
plified by  an  anecdote  reported  by  the  Rev.  John  Hecke- 
welder.  In  1785  an  Indian  who  had  been  disowned  by  his 
tribe  on  account  of  his  bad  character  killed  a  white  man 
at  Pittsburg.  The  chiefs  of  the  Delawares  were  invited  to 
be  present  at  his  trial,  and,  if  they  wished,  to  defend  him. 
They  sent  the  following  pointed  answer  to  the  civil  au- 
thorities: — 

Brethren  !  You  inform  us  that  N.  N.  who  murdered  one  of 
your  men  at  Pittsburg,  is  shortly  to  be  tried  by  the  laws  of  your 
country,  at  which  trial  you  request  that  some  of  us  may  be 
present !  Brethren  !  knowing  N.  N.  to  have  been  always  a  very 
bad  man,  we  do  not  wish  to  see  him  !  We,  therefore,  advise  you 
to  try  him  by  your  laws,  and  to  hang  him,  so  he  may  never 
return  to  us  again.2 

1  Barber,  as  above,  p.  427. 

2  Heckewelder,  Account  of  the  History,  Manners,  and  Customs,  of  the 
Indian  Nations,  who   once   inhabited   Pennsylvania  and  the  Neighbouring 
States,  Philadelphia,  1819,  p.  97. 

23 


354      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Thus  the  so-called  Indian  warrant  appears  to  be  true  to 
the  spirit  of  aboriginal  justice,  as  well  as  to  retain  some 
traces  of  local  color  in  the  names  which  it  gives  to  the 
magistrate  and  the  delinquent.  It  remains  to  determine 
whether  its  dialect  is  also  true  to  the  pronunciation  and 
syntax  of  the  English  used  by  the  aborigines.  The  in- 
quiry, which  will  also  give  results  favorable  to  the  verisi- 
militude of  this  facetious  document,  will  enable  us  to  pass 
in  review  a  number  of  excessively  curious  pieces  of  history 
and  tradition. 

Our  first  three  specimens  come  from  the  contemporary 
annals  of  King  Philip's  War.  They  are  preserved  in  "  The 
Present  State  of  New-England  .  .  .  faithfully  composed  by 
a  Merchant  of  Boston,  and  communicated  to  his  Friend  in 
London,"  which  was  published  in  1675  :  — 

About  the  \$th  of  August  [writes  our  Boston  merchant],  Cap- 
tain Mosely  with  sixty  Men,  met  with  a  company,  judged  about 
three  hundred  Indians,  in  a  plain  place  where  few  Trees  were, 
and  on  both  sides  preparations  were  making  for  a  Battle ;  all 
being  ready  on  both  sides  to  fight,  Captain  Moseley  plucked  off 
his  Periwig,  and  put  it  into  his  Breeches,  because  it  should  not 
hinder  him  in  fighting.  As  soon  as  the  Indians  saw  that,  they 
fell  a  Howling  and  Yelling  most  hideously,  and  said,  Umh,  umh 
me  no  stawmerre  fight  Engis  nwn,  Engis  man  get  two  hed, 
Engis  won  got  two  hed;  if  me  cut  off  un  hed,  he  got  noder,  a 
put  on  beder  as  dis;  with  such  like  words  in  broken  English,  and 
away  they  all  fled  and  could  not  be  overtaken,  nor  seen  any  more 
afterwards.1 

Some  of  the  words  in  this  queer  outburst  are  unintelli- 
gible and  probably  misprinted.  "  Me  no  stawmerre  fight 
Engis  mon  "  is  an  oracle  that  defies  interpretation.  In  gen- 
eral, however,  the  passage  is  plain  enough,  and  it  has  un- 
common interest  for  the  student  of  folk-lore.  The  Indians, 

1  The  Present  State  of  New-England,  London,  1675,  P-  I2> 


INDIAN  TALK  355 

it  seems,  were  quite  ready  to  admit  the  possibility  of  a 
man's  removing  his  head  at  will,  although  they  were  well 
aware  that  they  had  no  such  strange  powers  themselves. 
In  this  belief  they  were  in  accord  with  a  widespread  article 
of  popular  superstition,  which  occurs  in  one  form  or  an- 
other from  India  to  Ireland.  One  of  the  best  of  the 
ancient  Irish  sagas,  The  Feast  of  Bricriu,  which  is  con- 
tained in  a  manuscript  of  about  iioo  and  must  be  two  or 
three  centuries  older  than  that,  tells  of  a  giant  who  allowed 
himself  to  be  decapitated  on  condition  that  he  should  have 
the  right  to  treat  his  assailant  in  the  same  way,  and  who 
appeared  the  next  evening  with  his  head  in  its  proper  place 
to  claim  the  fulfilment  of  the  bargain.  This  story  got  into 
French  in  some  way  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century,  and 
reappears  in  the  fine  old  English  romance  of  Gawain  and 
the  Green  Knight,  written  by  an  anonymous  poet  who 
lived  in  the  time  of  Chaucer. 

Another  bit  of  Indian  English  is  preserved  by  the  same 
contemporary  witness  in  his  account  of  the  execution  of 
an  Indian  in  1675.  After  the  culprit  had  been  hanged, 
"  then  came  an  Indian,  a  Friend  of  his,  and  with  his  Knife 
made  a  hole  in  his  Breast  to  his  Heart,  and  sucked  out 
his  Heart-Blood :  Being  asked  his  reason  therefore,  his 
answer,  Umh,  umh  nu,  Me  stronger  as  I  was  before,  me  be 
so  strong  as  me  and  he  too,  he  be  ver  strong  Man  fore 
he  die."1 

Shocking  as  this  story  is  to  modern  nerves,  it  is  un- 
doubtedly true,  although  the  author  is  anonymous  and  we 
have  no  other  testimony  to  the  occurrence.  For  it  accords 
too  exactly  with  what  is  known  of  savage  psychology  all 
over  the  world  to  be  a  fabrication.  It  is  a  well-known 
article  of  faith  among  many  wild  races  that  one  may  in- 
herit the  strength  or  prowess  of  a  slain  man  by  tasting  his 
blood  or  eating  some  part  of  his  body,  and  many  canni- 
1  The  same,  p.  13. 


356      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

balistic  practices  are  based  rather  on  this  belief  than  on  an 
appetite  for  human  flesh. 

A  more  agreeable  anecdote,  also  containing  a  sample  of 
Indian  English,  is  given  by  the  same  writer.  An  English- 
man, being  left  for  dead  after  one  of  the  skirmishes,  "  was 
found  by  a  Friend  Indian,  he  took  him  up  and  said,  Umh, 
umh  poo  Ingismon,  mee  save yow  life,  mee  take yow  to  Cap- 
tain Mosee ;  he  carries  him  fifteen  Miles  the  day  after  to 
Captain  Moseley,  and  now  this  Man  is  well  again  and  in 
good  Health."  1 

Canonchet,  otherwise  known  as  Nanuntenoo,  chief  sa- 
chem of  the  Narragansetts,  one  of  King  Philip's  most  for- 
midable allies,  was  surprised  by  a  company  of  English 
and  friendly  Indians,  and,  despairing  of  an  escape,  surren- 
dered in  April,  1676.  A  memorable  passage  in  Hubbard 
describes  his  demeanor :  — 

One  of  the  first  English  that  came  up  with  him,  was  Robert 
Stanton,  a  young  man  that  scarce  had  reached  the  twenty  second 
year  of  his  Age,  yet  adventuring  to  ask  him  a  question,  or  two, 
to  whom  this  manly  Sachem,  looking  with  a  little  neglect  upon 
his  youthful  face,  replyed  in  broken  English ;  you  much  Child, 
no  understand  matters  of  War  •  let  your  brother,  or  your  chief 
come,  him  I  will  Answer ;  and  was  as  good  as  his  word ;  Acting 
herein,  as  if  by  a  Pythagorean  Metempsychosis,  some  old  Roman 
Ghost  had  possessed  the  body  of  this  Western  Pagan  ;  And  like 
Attilius  Regulus,  he  would  not  accept  of  his  own  Life,  when  it 
was  tendred  him,  upon  that  (in  his  account)  low  Condition  of 
Complyance  with  the  English,  refusing  to  send  an  old  Counsellour 
of  his  to  make  any  motion  that  way,  saying  he  knew  the  Indians 
would  not  yield.2 

An  extremely  curious  piece  of  Indian  English  occurs  in 
New-England's  Crisis,  a  poem  on  King  Philip's  War  writ- 
ten by  Benjamin  Tompson  in  1676.  Tompson,  who  was  a 

1  The  Present  State  of  New-England,  London,  1675,  P-  X4- 

2  Hubbard's  Narrative,  Boston,  1677,  Postscript,  p.  8. 


INDIAN  TALK  357 

graduate  of  Harvard  College,  a  physician,  and  an  eminent 
schoolmaster,  is  described  on  his  tombstone  as  "  the 
renouned  poet  of  New  England."  New-England's  Crisis 
is  his  chief  work.  After  a  prologue  in  praise  of  simplicity 
-  an  ingenious  adaptation  to  New-England  of  a  famous 
passage  in  Boethius  —  Tompson  describes  King  Philip  as 
holding  an  assembly  of  his  "  peers  "  and  his  "  commons  " 
and  delivering  an  oration  against  the  colonists.  This 
speech  is  partly  in  good  English,  but  it  is  variegated  with 
imitations  of  the  Indian  pronunciation  and  syntax.  There 
are  even  two  native  Indian  words,  —  wunnegin,  which 
means  "good,"1  and  matchit,  which  means  "bad,"2  — 
both  of  which  were  of  course  perfectly  familiar  to  the 
whites.  Tompson  passes  for  the  earliest  native  American 
poet.  At  all  events,  he  must  be  credited  with  the  first 
piece  of  "  dialect  verse  "  ever  written  in  this  country.  In 
the  extract  which  follows,  the  punctuation  has  been 
regulated,  but  no  other  changes  have  been  made :  — 

And  here  methinks  I  see  this  greazy  Lout, 

With  all  his  pagan  slaves  coil'd  round  about, 

Assuming  all  the  majesty  his  throne 

Of  rotten  stump,  or  of  the  rugged  stone, 

Could  yield  ;  casting  some  bacon-rine-like  looks, 

Enough  to  fright  a  Student  from  his  books, 

Thus  treat  his  peers,  &  next  to  them  his  Commons, 

Kennel'd  together  all  without  a  summons  :  — 

"  My  friends,  our  Fathers  were  not  half  so  wise 

As  we  our  selves,  who  see  with  younger  eyes  ; 

They  sel  our  land  to  english  man,  who  teach 

Our  nation  all  so  fast  to  pray  and  preach. 

Of  all  our  countrey  they  enjoy  the  best, 

And  quickly  they  intend  to  have  the  rest. 

This  no  wunnegin  ;  so  big  matchit  law, 

Which  our  old  fathers  fathers  never  saw 

These  english  make,  and  we  must  keep  them  too, 

Which  is  too  hard  for  us  or  them  to  doe. 

1  See  Trumbull,  Natick  Dictionary,  1903,  p.  202. 

2  See  Trumbull,  p.  50  (s.  v.  matche). 


358       THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

We  drink,  we  so  big  whipt ;  but  english  they 

Go  sneep,  no  more,  or  else  a  little  pay. 

Me  meddle  Squaw,  me  hang'd  ;  our  fathers  kept 

What  Squaws  they  would,  whither  they  wakt  or  slept. 

Now,  if  you'le  fight,  He  get  you  english  coats, 

And  wine  to  drink  out  of  their  Captains  throats. 

The  richest  merchants  houses  shall  be  ours  ; 

Wee'l  ly  no  more  on  matts  or  dwell  in  bowers. 

Wee'l  have  their  silken  wives;  take  they  our  Squaws ! 

They  shall  be  whipt  by  virtue  of  our  laws. 

If  ere  we  strike,  tis  now,  before  they  swell 

To  greater  swarmes  then  we  know  how  to  quell. 

This  my  resolve,  let  neighbouring  Sachems  know, 

And  every  one  that  hath  club,  gun,  or  bow." 

This  was  assented  to,  and,  for  a  close, 

He  strokt  his  smutty  beard  and  curst  his  foes.1 

Philip's  comparison  between  penalties  for  Indians  and 
penalties  for  English  is  very  pithily  expressed,  and  it  is 
precisely  here  that  the  Indianisms  are  most  marked  :  — 

We  drink,  we  so  big  whipt ;  but  English  they 
Go  sneep,  no  more,  or  else  a  little  pay. 

That  is,  "  If  we  Indians  get  drunk,  we  are  severely 
whipped.  But  if  the  English  get  drunk,  they  merely  go 
and  sleep  it  off,  or  perhaps  have  to  pay  a  slight  fine." 
Tompson  was  a  scholar,  a  student  of  the  tongues.  Possi- 
bly he  was  here  reproducing  an  actual  bit  of  "  Indian 
talk."  At  all  events,  he  must  be  pretty  close  to  the  lin- 
guistic facts.  The  use  of  sneep  for  sleep  corresponds  with 
what  has  often  been  observed,  —  the  Indian  substitution 
of  n  for  /  in  English  words.  Massasoit  always  called  his 
friend  Winslow  "  Winsnow." 

Tompson's  sketch  of  King  Philip  is  not  flattering.  It 
reminds  one  of  the  alleged  portrait  of  the  Indian  potentate 
engraved  by  Paul  Revere  in  I7/2.2  This  is  so  ugly  as  to 

1  Tompson,  New-England's  Crisis,  Club  of  Odd  Volumes,  1894,  pp.  10-11. 

2  For   the  second  edition  of  Church's   History  of  King  Philip's   War 
(Boston,  1772) ;  reproduced  by  S.  G.  Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  8th  ed., 
Boston,  1841. 


INDIAN  TALK  359 

be  almost  repulsive.  It  has,  of  course,  no  claim  to  be 
regarded  as  a  likeness,  and  is  not  without  a  suggestion  of 
deliberate  caricature.  Our  ancestors  had  no  temptation 
to  idealize  their  inveterate  enemy.  His  memory  was  not 
only  terrible  but  odious  as  well,  and  they  expressed  their 
feelings,  whether  with  pen  or  graver,  with  the  vigor  of 
their  day. 

We  have,  unfortunately,  no  good  contemporary  drawing 
of  a  New  England  Indian  of  King  Philip's  time.  On  the 
opposite  page,  however,  may  be  seen  a  trustworthy  repre- 
sentation of  such  an  Indian.  This  is  taken  from  a  sketch 
made  by  Mr.  C.  C.  Willoughby  of  the  Peabody  Museum 
of  Archaeology  and  Ethnology,  Harvard  University,  under 
the  direction  of  Professor  F.  W.  Putnam.  It  is  the  result 
of  a  very  ingenious  process  of  scientific  reconstruction. 
The  proper  proportions  of  the  figure  were  ascertained 
from  a  perfect  skeleton  of  a  Massachusetts  Indian  un- 
earthed at  Winthrop  by  Professor  Putnam  in  1888.  The 
rank  of  this  warrior  was  indicated  by  various  objects  that 
were  buried  with  him,  and  we  even  know  the  manner  of 
his  death ;  for  there  was  an  arrow  point  sticking  in  the 
inside  of  a  lumbar  vertebra,  which  showed  that  he  had 
been  shot  through  the  abdomen.  The  skull  was  carefully 
measured  to  get  the  shape  of  the  head  and  the  propor- 
tions of  the  face.  A  series  of  experiments  undertaken 
by  Dr.  Thomas  Dwight,  of  the  Harvard  Medical  School, 
gave  the  thickness  of  the  flesh  for  the  different  parts  of 
the  face.  Details  of  facial  expression  were  taken  from  a 
photograph  of  a  member  of  a  related  tribe,  the  Winneba- 
goes,  who  may  be  presumed  to  resemble  their  Algonquin 
brethren  of  New  England.  The  shirt,  leggings,  and 
moccasins  were  drawn  from  specimens  in  the  Peabody 
Museum  which  accorded  with  descriptions  of  Massachusetts 
Indians  in  writings  of  the  seventeenth  century.  The  feathers 
in  the  hair  were  copied  from  photographs  of  Ojibways, 


360  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

but  are  equally  good  for  New  England,  as  the  old  au- 
thorities prove.  The  beads  round  the  neck  were  from 
specimens  actually  found  with  the  skeleton  already  men- 
tioned. The  belt  was  taken  from  a  bead-embroidered 
girdle,  traditionally  said  to  have  belonged  to  King  Philip 
himself.  The  bow  is  a  copy  of  the  only  Massachusetts 
weapon  of  the  kind  known  to  be  in  existence.  This  has 
an  authentic  pedigree  extending  back  to  1665,  when  it  was 
taken  from  a  Sudbury  Indian  who  had  been  shot  by  a 
white  man.  Both  belt  and  bow  may  still  be  seen  in  the 
Museum.  The  arrow  was  drawn  from  specimens  in  the 
same  collection,  and  its  length  was  carefully  adjusted  to 
the  size  of  the  bow.1  Altogether,  then,  we  have  in  this 
figure  a  representation  of  an  old  Massachusetts  warrior 
which  is  quite  as  correct  as  if  it  had  been  sketched  by 
a  draughtsman  of  the  old  time ;  and  the  learning  and 
ingenuity  of  the  reconstructive  process  add  to  the  interest 
of  the  picture.  It  will  be  observed  that  our  Indian  holds 
the  bow  in  his  left  hand  and  the  arrow  in  his  right,  as 
he  should.  In  this  he  follows  actual  custom  and  the  dic- 
tates of  practical  utility,  as  well  as  the  ancient  seal  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay  Company.2  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  Great  Seal  of  the  Commonwealth,  even  in  its  latest 
design,  as  adopted  in  iSQS,3  perpetuates  an  error  made, 
apparently,  in  1780,  and  depicts  an  Indian  who  can  only 
be  described  as  left-handed.  The  mere  transposition  of 
two  words  in  the  Act  of  1885,*  which  defines  the  seal, 
would  bring  the  law  into  accordance  with  the  facts.  Let 
us  hope  that  the  General  Court  may  see  its  way  to  this 
slight  but  significant  reform. 

The  following  story  is  told  by  Captain  Nathaniel  Uring 

1  These  details  are  given  on  the  basis  of  a  communication  from  Pro- 
fessor Putnam  to  the  writer. 

'2  On  various  forms  of  the  seal  see  Massachusetts  Documents,  1885, 
House,  No.  345  ;  E.  H.  Garrett,  New  England  Magazine,  1901,  XXIII,  623  ff. 

3  Acts  of  1898,  ch.  519.  4  Acts  of  1885,  ch.  288. 


INDIAN   TALK  361 

in  his  account  of  his  visit  to  Boston  in  1709^  It  does 
not  appear  whence  he  derived  it,  but  the  two  stories  im- 
mediately preceding  were  told  him  by  Governor  Joseph 
Dudley  himself  and  by  Paul  Dudley,  his  son. 

A  third  Story  is  told  of  the  Governour  and  an  Indian,  which 
may  not  be  improper  to  shew  the  Subtilty  of  the  Natives.  Gov- 
ernour Dudly  was  a  Man  of  very  good  Understanding,  and  was 
very  industrious  in  improving  his  Plantation  :  He  observing  a 
lusty  Indian  almost  naked,  took  Occasion  one  Day  to  ask  him, 
why  he  did  not  work  to  purchase  something  to  keep  him  from 
the  Cold?  The  Fellow  asked  the  Governour,  why  he  did  not 
work?  Who  told  him,  he  worked  with  his  Head,  and  had  no 
Occasion  to  work  with  his  Hands  as  he  must.  The  Indian  said, 
If  any  one  would  employ  him,  he  would  work.  The  Governour 
asked  him  to  kill  him  a  Calf,  for  which  he  would  give  him  a 
Shilling.  The  Indian  readily  undertook  it,  and  killed  the  Calf; 
but  observing  he  did  not  go  about  to  skin  it,  asked  him,  why 
he  did  not  make  haste  to  skin  and  dress  it?  the  Indian  an- 
swered, No,  no,  Coponoh ;  that  was  not  in  my  Bargain,  I  was 
to  have  a  Shilling  for  killing  it,  he  no  dead  Coponoh  [?]  The 
Governour  seeing  the  Fellow  witty  upon  him,  bid  him  dress 
it,  and  he  would  give  him  another  Shilling :  The  Indian  having 
finished  his  Work,  and  being  paid,  went  to  an  Alehouse,  where 
they  sold  Rum,  which  was  near  the  Governour's  House,  where 
he  spent  some  of  his  Money  in  that  Liquor,  which  they  are  all 
great  Lovers  of;  and  whether  he  had  Brass  Money  of  his  own, 
or  whether  the  House  furnished  him  with  it,  is  out  of  my  Story ; 
but  he  went  back  to  the  Governour,  and  told  him,  he  had  given 
him  bad  Money,  who  seeing  it  Brass,  readily  gave  him  another ; 
and  soon  after  the  Fellow  went  back  with  a  Second,  which  the 
Governour  also  changed,  but  knew  the  Fellow  had  put  upon  him  ; 
and  seeing  him  next  Day,  called  to  him  and  told  him  he  must 
carry  a  Letter  presently  to  Boston,  which  he  wrote  to  the  Keeper 
of  Bridewell,  in  order  to  have  the  fellow  well  lashed ;  but  he 

1  History  of  the  Voyages  and  Travels  of  Capt.  Nathaniel  Uring,  London, 
1726,  pp.  120-1. 


362         THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

apprehending  the  Consequence,  and  seeing  another  Indian  in 
the  Road,  he  gave  him  the  Letter,  telling  him,  the  Governour 
said  he  must  carry  that  Letter  presently  to  Boston.  The  poor 
Fellow  took  it  innocently,  and  having  delivered  the  Letter  as 
directed,  was  whip'd  very  severely;  the  Governour  soon  after 
seeing  the  Indian  again,  asked  him,  if  he  had  carried  the  Letter 
he  sent  him  with?  He  answered,  No,  no,  Coponoh,  Head  work, 
pointing  to  his  Head  :  The  Governour  was  so  well  pleased  with 
the  Fellow's  Answer,  he  forgave  him. 

An  instructive  piece  of  Indian  social  philosophy  is  given 
on  the  authority  of  the  Rev.  John  Heckewelder,  for  a  long 
time  missionary  among  the  Pennsylvania  aborigines :  — 

An  aged  Indian,  who  for  many  years  had  spent  much  of  his 
time  among  the  white  people  both  in  Pennsylvania  and  New 
Jersey,  one  day  about  the  year  1770  observed,  that  the  Indians 
had  not  only  a  much  easier  way  of  getting  a  wife  than  the  whites, 
but  were  also  more  certain  of  getting  a  good  one  ;  "  For,"  (said 
he  in  his  broken  English,)  "White  man  court, —  court,  —  may 
be  one  whole  year  !  —  may  be  two  year  before  he  marry  !  —  well ! 
—  may  be  then  got  very  good  wife  — but  may  be  not  I  —  may  be 
very  cross  !  —  Well  now,  suppose  cross  !  scold  so  soon  as  get 
awake  in  the  morning  !  scold  all  day  !  scold  until  sleep  !  —  all 
one ;  he  must  keep  him  !  White  people  have  law  forbidding 
throwing  away  wife,  be  he  ever  so  cross  !  must  keep  him  always  ! 
Well!  how  does  Indian  do?  —  Indian  when  he  see  industrious 
Squaw,  which  he  like,  he  go  to  him,  place  his  two  forefingers 
close  aside  each  other,  make  two  look  like  one  —  look  Squaw  in 
the  face — see  him  smile  —  which  is  all  one  he  say,  Yes  /  so  he 
take  him  home  —  no  danger  he  be  cross  !  no  !  no  !  Squaw  know 
too  well  what  Indian  do  if  he  cross  !  —  throw  him  away  and  take 
another !  Squaw  love  to  eat  meat !  no  husband !  no  meat ! 
Squaw  do  everything  to  please  husband  !  he  do  the  same  to 
please  Squaw!  live  happy!"1 

1  Heckewelder,  Account  of  the  History,  Manners,  and  Customs,  of  the 
Indian  Nations,  who  once  inhabited  Pennsylvania  and  the  Neighbouring 
States,  1819,  pp.  151-2. 


INDIAN  TALK  363 

Local  tradition  in  Natick,  as  reported  in  1830,  is  respon- 
sible for  two  or  three  short  samples  of  Indian  English. 

A  devout  Indian  of  Natick,  Deacon  Ephraitn,  described 
as  "  an  ornament  to  the  Christian  society  for  many  years," 
was  asked  why  young  Indians  who  were  educated  in 
English  families,  so  often  became  drunken  and  disorderly 
when  they  grew  up,  although  they  had  behaved  well  so 
long  as  they  were  under  tutelage.  "  Ducks  will  be  ducks," 
replied  the  old  man,  <f  notwithstanding  they  are  hatched 
by  the  hen,"  or,  in  his  own  words  and  pronunciation, 
"  Tucks  will  be  tucks,  for  all  ole  hen  he  hatchum."  1 

Another  Natick  Indian  went  to  Boston  in  the  fall  with  a 
load  of  brooms  and  baskets,  and  purchased  a  dram.  The 
next  spring,  on  a  similar  occasion,  the  same  storekeeper 
charged  him  twice  as  much  for  the  same  quantity  of  liquor. 
The  Indian  naturally  asked  the  reason  for  this  increase  in 
price,  and  was  informed  that  the  dealer  had  kept  the  cask 
through  the  winter  and  that  this  was  as  expensive  as  to 
keep  a  horse.  "  Hah,"  grunted  the  customer,  "he  no  eat 
so  much  hay;  but  I  believe  he  drink  as  much  water."2 

Mr.  Ebenezer  Peabody  was  minister  at  Natick  from 
1721  to  1752.  In  praying  for  rain,  he  made  use  of  the 
biblical  formula,  "  May  the  bottles  of  heaven  be  unstopped 
and  a  plentiful  supply  of  rain  be  poured  down  on  the 
thirsty  earth."  The  rain  came  almost  immediately  and 
lasted  for  many  days.  One  of  Mr.  Peabody's  Indian  con- 
gregation, who  happened  to  meet  him,  observed :  "  I 
believe  them  are  bottles  you  talk  about  be  unstopped,  and 
the  stopples  be  lost."  3 

This  story  of  Mr.  Peabody  recalls  an  extraordinary 
contest  on  a  similar  occasion  between  an  Indian  wizard 
and  Mr.  Fitch,  of  Norwich,  Connecticut.  The  incident  is 

1  Biglow,  History  of  Natick,  1830,  p.  81. 

2  The  same,  p.  86.     Elsewhere  this  anecdote  is  told  of  a  Connecticut 
River  Indian.  3  The  same,  p.  86. 


364  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

dated  August  3,  1676,  and  is  too  curious  to  be  omitted, 
though  it  adds  nothing  to  our  knowledge  of  the  Indian 
manner  of  speaking  English.  As  told  by  Increase  Mather 1 
it  brings  to  mind  vividly  the  narrative  of  Elijah's  discom- 
fiture of  the  priests  of  Baal  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of 
First  Kings;  but  it  seems  better  to  give  the  story  in  Mr. 
Fitch's  own  words  :  — 

Concerning  the  Drought,  <5rv.  the  true  Narrative  of  that  Provi- 
dence is  this, 

In  August  last,  such  was  the  want  of  rain,  that  the  Indian  corn 
was  not  only  dryed  and  parched  up,  but  the  apple-trees  withered, 
the  fruit  and  leaves  fell  off  as  in  Autumn,  and  some  trees  seemed 
to  be  dead  with  that  Drought :  the  Indians  came  into  town  and 
lamented  their  want  of  rain,  and  that  their  Powawes  could  get 
none  in  their  way  of  worship,  desiring  me  that  I  would  seek  to 
God  for  rain  :  I  appointed  a  Fast  day  for  that  purpose.  The 
day  being  come,  it  proved  cleer  without  any  clouds,  untill  sun- 
setting,  when  we  came  from  the  Meeting,  and  then  some  Clouds 
arose ;  the  next  day  remained  cloudy,  then  Uncas  with  many 
Indians  came  to  my  house,  Uncas  lamented  there  was  such 
want  of  Rain ;  I  asked  whether  if  God  should  send  us  rain,  he 
would  not  attribute  it  to  their  Powawes:  He  answered  no,  for 
they  had  done  their  uttermost  and  all  in  vain:  I  replyed,  if  you 
will  declare  it  before  all  these  Indians,  you  shall  see  what  God 
will  doe  for  us ;  For  although  this  year  he  hath  shewn  his  anger 
against  the  English,  and  not  only  against  the  Indians,  yet  he  hath 
begun  to  save  us,  and  I  have  found  by  experience  twice  in  the 
like  case,  when  we  sought  by  Fasting  and  Prayer,  he  hath  given 
us  Rain,  and  never  denyed  us.  Then  Uncas  made  a  great  speech 
to  the  Indians  (which  were  many)  confessing  that  if  God  should 
then  send  rain  it  could  not  be  ascribed  to  their  powawing,  but 
must  be  acknowledged  to  be  an  answer  of  our  prayers.  This  day 
the  clouds  spread  more  and  more,  and  the  next  day  there  was 

1  A  Brief  History  of  the  War  with  the  Indians,  London,  1676,  p.  45, 
ed.  Drake,  pp.  189-90. 


INDIAN   TALK  365 

such  plenty  of  rain  that  our  River  rose  more  than  two  foot  in 
height.1 

A  still  later  piece  of  aboriginal  English  comes  from 
Maine,  and,  though  it  gives  no  idea  of  pronunciation,  is  of 
peculiar  interest  for  other  reasons.  On  August  31,  1838, 
there  was  a  great  Council  of  the  Tarratines  and  allied 
tribes,  at  Oldtown,  Maine,  to  discuss  the  election  of  a  new 
sachem.  This  meeting  was  the  result  of  a  combination 
against  the  authority  of  John  Neptune,  who  claimed  to 
be  sachem  for  life,  but  whose  addiction  to  strong  waters 
and  other  indulgences  had  caused  a  good  deal  of  dissatis- 
faction. "  He  is  the  moon,"  said  one  of  the  speakers, 
"  that  often  grows  larger,  then  smaller.  For  sometimes 
he  loves  his  Indians  very  much ;  by  'nd  by,  he  don't  love 
'em  so  much.  No,  no,  —  he  love  'em  best  some  woman- 
kind,—  not  his  own  squaw.  .  .  .  Well,  his  Indians  say, 
We  have  him  '  sachem  '  no  longer.  They  want  a  good 
governor,  like  old  Orono;  —  to  speak  wisdom,  —  to  show 
'em  good  works.  Such  one  is  governor  for  life.  Not  so 
the  bad  one.  When  his  heart  be  very  wicked,  his  walk 
crooked,  't  is  right  to  leave  him." 

For  this  speech  we  have  unimpeachable  evidence.  It 
is  reported  by  Mr.  W.  D.  Williamson,  the  historian  of 
Maine,  in  a  paper  sent  to  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Society  in  the  next  year,  i839.2 

A  specimen  of  John  Neptune's  eloquence  in  English 
is  also  recorded  by  Mr.  Williamson.  In  1816  an  Indian 
named  Susup  killed  William  Knight,  a  tavern  keeper  at 
Bangor,  who  had  turned  him  out-of-doors  because  of  his 
drunken  turbulence.  Susup  was  indicted  for  murder  and 
tried  in  the  Supreme  Court  at  Castine,  in  June,  1817.  The 
verdict  was  manslaughter,  and  when  the  court  asked 

1  Hubbard,  Narrative  of  the  Troubles  with  the  Indians,  Boston,  1677, 
pp.  113-14- 

2  Collections,  3d  Series,  IX,  97-98. 


366  THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

Susup    if  he  had  anything  to  say,  he  called   upon  John 
Neptune  to  speak  for  him :  — 

That  Indian  then  stepped  forward  from  the  midst  of  his  asso- 
ciates, towards  the  Judges,  and  deliberately  addressed  them  in  an 
impressive  speech  of  several  minutes.  He  spake  in  broken  Eng- 
lish, yet  every  word  was  distinctly  heard  and  easily  understood. 
His  gestures  were  frequent  and  forcible ;  his  manner  solemn ; 
and  a  breathless  silence  pervaded  the  whole  assembly.  —  He 
began — "You  know,  your  people  do  my  Indians  great  deal  of 
wrong.  —  They  abuse  them  very  much ;  yes,  they  murder  them ; 
then  they  walk  right  off —  nobody  touches  them.  This  makes  my 
heart  burn.  Well,  then  my  Indians  say,  we  '11  go  kill  your  very 
bad  and  wicked  men.  No,  I  tell  'em,  never  do  that  thing ;  we 
are  brothers.  —  Sometime  ago  a  very  bad  man  about  Boston,  shot 
an  Indian  dead  ;  —  your  people  said,  surely  he  should  die ;  but 
it  was  not  so. — In  the  great  prison-house  he  eats  and  lives  to 
this  day ;  certain  he  never  dies  for  killing  Indian.  My  brothers 
say,  let  that  bloody  man  go  free  ;  —  Peol  Susup  too.  So  we  wish 
—  hope  fills  the  hearts  of  us  all.  —  Peace  is  good.  These,  my 
Indians,  love  it  well;  they  smile  under  its  shade.  The  white 
men  and  red  men  must  be  always  friends ;  —  the  Great  Spirit  is 
our  Father ;  —  I  speak  what  I  feel." 

Susup  was  sentenced  to  another  year's  imprisonment;  and 
required  to  find  sureties  for  keeping  the  peace  two  years,  in  the 
penal  sum  of  $500;  when  John  Neptune,  and  'Squire  Jo  Merry 
Neptune,  of  his  own  tribe,  Capt.  Solmond,  from  Passamaquoddy, 
and  Capt.  Jo  Tomer,  from  the  river  St.  John,  became  his  sureties 
in  the  recognizance.1 

John  Neptune's  eloquence,  it  seems,  was  not  unavailing. 

1  W.  D.  Williamson,  History  of  Maine,  Hallowell,  1832,  I,  501-2.  Mr. 
Williamson  was  Susup's  counsel. 


MORE    INDIAN    TALK 

IN  the  previous  chapter  we  have  considered  oral  dis- 
course chiefly,  and  most  of  our  examples  have  been 
of  a  conversational  sort.     There  are  also,  of  course, 
a  good  many  written  documents  of  a  more  or  less  formal 
character.     These  are  generally  the  work    of  some  con- 
verted native  who  had  been  taught  to  read  and  write  in 
the    Indian    schools    established    under   Eliot's    influence. 
Sometimes  the  scribe  is  known,  and  usually  his  identity 
is  not  beyond  a  reasonable  guess. 

An  undated  letter  from  King  Philip  to  Governor  Prince 
may  head  the  list.  The  authorship  is  usually  credited  to 
John  Sassamon,  the  praying  Indian  who  at  one  time  acted 
as  Philip's  secretary  and  whose  tragic  fate  (told  elsewhere 
in  this  book)  was  the  signal  for  the  outbreak  of  hostilities.1 
The  exact  date  of  the  epistle  is  unknown.  The  irregulari- 
ties are  chiefly  syntactical ;  the  spelling  is  quite  as  good 
as  that  of  most  records  of  the  time  and  throws  little  light 
on  the  peculiarities  of  pronunciation. 

To  the  much  honered  governer  rar.  thomas  prince,  dwelling  at 
plimouth 

honered  sir, 

King  philip  desire  to  let  you  understand  that  he  could 

not  come  to  the  court,  for  torn  his  interpreter  has  a  pain  in  his 

back  that  he  could  not  travil  so  far,  and  philips  sister  is  verey  sik. 

Philip  would  intreat  that  faver  of  you  and  aney  of  the  maies- 

trats,  if  aney  english  or  engians  speak  about  aney  land  he  pray 

you  to  give  them  no  ansewer  at  all.     the  last  sumer  he  maid  that 

1  See  p.  76,  above. 


368      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

promis  with  you  that  he  would  not  sell  no  land  in  7  years  time 

for  that  he  would  have  no  english  trouble  him  before  that  time 

he  has  not  forgat  that  you  promis  him 

he  will  come  asune  as  possible  he  can  to  speak  with  you 

and  so  I  rest  your  very  loving  frind  philip  dweling  at  mount 

hope  nek.1 

Another  document  of  Philip's,  dated  1666,  also  concerns 
the  vital  question  of  selling  land  to  the  settlers.  It  amounts 
to  a  power  of  attorney  appointing  two  Indians  his  general 
agents  in  such  matters.  It  begins  with  great  decorum  but 
soon  runs  off  into  unconventionally :  — 

Know  all  men  by  these  presents,  that  Philip  haue  giuen  power 
vnto  Watuchpoo  and  Sampson  and  theire  brethren  to  hold  and 
make  sale  of  to  whom  they  will  by  my  consent,  and  they  shall  not 
haue  itt  without  they  be  willing  to  lett  it  goe  it  shal  be  sol  by  my 
consent,  but  without  my  knowledge  they  cannot  safely  to  :  but 
with  my  consent  there  is  none  that  can  lay  claime  to  that  land 
which  they  haue  marked  out,  it  is  theires  foreuer,  soe  therefore 
none  can  safely  purchase  any  otherwise  but  by  Watuchpoo  and 
Sampson  and  their  bretheren. 

PHILIP  i666.2 

In  April,  1676,  Tom  Dublet,  alias  Nepanet,  one  of  the 
friendly  Natick  Indians  who  were  then  confined  on  Deer 
Island,  was  despatched  to  King  Philip's  quarters  to  negoti- 
ate for  the  release  of  Mrs.  Rowlandson,  wife  of  the  minister 
of  Lancaster,  and  other  captives  who  had  been  taken  at 
the  sack  of  that  town.  Tom  soon  returned  with  a  written 
reply :  — 

We  no  give  answer  by  this  one  man,  but  if  you  like  my  answer 
sent  one  more  man  besides  this  one  Tom  Nepanet,  and  send  with 
all  true  heart  and  with  all  your  mind  by  two  men ;  because  you 

1  The  Massachusetts  Magazine,  for  May,  1789, 1,  276.     The  copy  in  Coll. 
Mass.  Hist.  Soc.,  1793,  H>  4°>  varies  slightly. 

2  Drake,  Book  of  the  Indians,  8th  ed.,  Boston,  1841,  bk.  iii,  p.  14. 


MORE   INDIAN  TALK  369 

know  and  we  know  your  heart  great  sorrowful  with  crying  for  your 
lost  many  many  hundred  man  and  all  your  house  and  all  your  land 
and  woman  child  and  cattle  as  all  your  thing  that  you  have  lost 
and  on  your  backside  stand. 

SAM,  Sachem, 
KUTQUEN,  and 
QUANOHIT,  Sagamores. 
Peter  Jethro,  scribe. 

Mr.  Rowlandson,  your  wife  and  all  your  child  is  well  but  one 
dye.  Your  sister  is  well  and  her  3  child.  John  Kittell,  your 
wife  and  all  your  child  is  all  well,  and  all  them  prisoners  taken  at 
Nashua  is  all  well. 

Mr.  Rowlandson,  se  your  loving  sister  his  hand  C  Hanah. 

And  old  Kettel  wif  his  hand.  + 

Brother  Rowlandson,  pray  send  thre  pound  of  Tobacco  for  me, 
if  you  can  my  loving  husband  pray  send  thre  pound  of  tobacco 
for  me. 

This  writing  by  your  enemies  —  Samuel  Uskattuhgun  and 
Gunrashit,  two  Indian  sagamores.1 

The  confused  postscript  may  need  a  word  of  explanation. 
It  was  intended  to  convince  the  Council  that  the  prison- 
ers were  alive  and  well.  Mr.  Rowlandson's  sister-in-law, 
Hannah  Divoll,  signs  with  her  mark.  The  tobacco  which 
Mrs.  Rowlandson  asks  her  husband  to  send  her  was  of 
course  to  be  used  in  mollifying  her  captors.  Subsequently, 
when  Mr.  John  Hoar  went  to  negotiate  for  the  release  of 
the  captives,  he  carried  Mrs.  Rowlandson  a  pound  of 
tobacco,  which  she  immediately  sold  to  the  Indians  for 
"  nine  shillings  in  mony."  "  For  many  of  the  Indians," 
she  tells  us,  "  for  want  of  Tobacco,  smoaked  Hemlock,  and 
Ground-Ivy."  There  follows  the  remark,  somewhat  start- 
ling to  us  nowadays :  —  "It  was  a  great  mistake  in  any, 

1  The  same,  bk.  iii,  p.  90,  apparently  from  the  MS.,  which  cannot  now  be 
found.  Most  of  the  letter  is  given  by  Gookin,  Historical  Account,  Coll. 
Am.  Antiq.  Soc.,  II,  508. 

24 


370      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

who  thought  I  sent  for  Tobacco:  for  through  the  favour 
of  God,  that  desire  was  overcome."  1  We  must  remember, 
however,  that  the  habit  of  smoking  was  by  no  means  rare 
amongst  women  in  the  seventeenth  and  even  in  the  eight- 
eenth century.  Earlier  in  her  narrative  Mrs.  Rowlandson 
confesses  to  the  seductiveness  of  a  couple  of  pipes :  — 
"Then  I  went  to  see  King  Philip,  he  bade  me  come  in 
and  sit  down,  and  asked  me  whether  I  would  smoke  it 
(a  usual  Complement  now  adayes  amongst  Saints  and 
Sinners)  but  this  no  way  suited  me.  For  though  I  had 
formerly  used  Tobacco,  yet  I  had  left  it  ever  since  I  was 
first  taken.  It  seems  to  be  a  Bait,  the  Devil  layes  to  make 
men  loose  their  precious  time :  I  remember  with  shame,  how 
formerly,  when  I  had  taken  two  or  three  pipes,  I  was  pres- 
ently ready  for  another,  such  a  bewitching  thing  it  is :  But 
I  thank  God,  he  has  now  given  me  power  over  it :  surely 
there  are  many  who  may  be  better  imployed  than  to  ly 
sucking  a  stinking  Tobacco-pipe."2 

Peter  Jethro,  who  acted  as  scribe  on  this  occasion,  was 
the  son  of  a  Natick  Indian  called  Jethro  or  Tantamous. 
Old  Jethro  had  escaped  when  the  friendly  Indians  were 
being  conducted  to  Deer  Island  for  safe  keeping,  and  was 
now,  like  his  son,  in  the  ranks  of  the  enemy.  Later,  it 
appears,  Peter  went  back  to  the  whites  and  was  employed 
as  a  spy.  It  is  to  him  that  Mrs.  Rowlandson  refers  when 
she  says,  "  There  was  another  Praying- Indian,  who  when 
he  had  done  all  the  mischief  that  he  could,  betrayed  his 
own  Father  into  the  English  hands,  thereby  to  purchase 
his  own  life."  3  His  epitaph  is  an  emphatic  utterance  of 
Increase  Mather:  —  "That  abominable  Indian  Peter  Jethro 
betrayed  his  own  Father,  and  other  Indians  of  his  special 
acquaintance,  unto  Death."4 

1  Narrative,  1682,  p.  56  (Nourse  and  Thayer's  facsimile ). 

2  The  same,  p.  24.  3  The  same,  p.  50. 

*  An  Historical  Discourse  concerning  the  Prevalency  of  Prayer  1677, 
p.  6,  ed.  Drake,  Early  History  of  New  England,  1864,  pp.  257-8. 


MORE   INDIAN  TALK 

Another  Indian  letter  concerning  the  same  negotiations, 
though  unsigned,  is  thought  to  be  the  work  of  James 
Printer,  a  native  who  has  an  honorable  name  in  the  history 
of  American  typography.  He  had  been  apprenticed  to 
Samuel  Green  of  Cambridge  in  1659,  but  had  joined  his 
countrymen  when  the  war  broke  out.  Soon  after  the 
date  of  this  letter,  he  gave  himself  up,  was  pardoned,  and 
returned  to  his  trade.  He  was  Eliot's  mainstay  in  setting 
up  and  correcting  the  second  edition  of  the  Indian  Bible 
(published  in  1685),  and  in  1709  his  name  is  joined  with 
Green's  in  the  imprint  of  an  English  and  Indian  Psalter.1 
James  Printer's  letter  is  preserved  among  the  Hutchinson 
Papers.2  It  was  written  at  Philip's  headquarters  at  Wachu- 
sett,  and  runs  as  follows :  — 

For  the  Governor  and  the  Council  at  Boston 

The  Indians,  Tom  Nepennomp  and  Peter  Tatatiqunea  hath 
brought  us  letter  from  you  about  the  English  Captives,  especially 
for  Mrs  Rolanson ;  the  answer  is  I  am  sorrow  that  I  haue  don 
much  wrong  to  you  and  yet  I  say  the  falte  is  lay  upon  you,  for 
when  we  began  quarel  at  first  with  Plimouth  men  I  did  not  think 
that  you  should  haue  so  much  truble  as  now  is  :  therefore  I  am 
willing  to  hear  your  desire  about  the  Captives.  Therefore  we 
desire  you  to  sent  Mr  Rolanson  and  goodman  Kettel :  (for  their 
wives)  and  these  Indians  Tom  and  Peter  to  redeem  their  wives, 
they  shall  come  and  goe  very  safely :  Whereupon  we  ask  Mrs 
Rolanson,  how  much  your  husband  willing  to  giue  for  you  she 
gaue  an  answer  20  pound  in  goodes  but  John  Kittels  wife  could 
not  till,  and  the  rest  captives  may  be  spoken  of  hereafter. 

The  descendants  of  James  Printer  did  not  follow  in  the 
steps  of  their  ancestor  so  far  as  learning  is  concerned. 
In  1728,  when  the  Indian  proprietors  of  Hassanamisco 

1  See  Drake,  Book  of   the  Indians,  8th  ed.,  bk.  ii,  pp.  50-51  ;    Pilling, 
Bibliography  of  the  Algonquian  Languages,  Washington,  1891,  p.  348. 

2  II,  282.     Here  from  Nourse  and  Thayer's  edition  of  Mrs.  Rowlandson's 
Narrative,  Lancaster,  1903,  pp.  97-98. 


3/2  THE   OLD   FARMER'S   ALMANACK 

(Grafton)  conveyed  the  town  to  the  English,  Ami  Printer, 
Moses  Printer,  and  Ami  Printer,  Jr.,  signed  the  deed,  each 
as  owner  of  a  seventh  of  the  land,  and  all  made  their 
marks.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that  these  marks 
appear  in  every  case  to  be  the  initial  of  the  signer's  name.1 
The  high  standing  of  Waban  is  nowhere  more  conclu- 
sively shown  than  in  three  Indian  letters  in  which  he  is 
actually  addressed  as  "Mr.  Waban,"  —  a  proud  title  in 
colonial  times.  The  first  of  these  was  written  in  July, 
1676,  and  the  others  soon  after.  The  fortunes  of  Philip 
had  declined,  and  his  allies  were  eager  to  make  peace  with 
the  English.  They  are  favorable  specimens  of  aboriginal 
English.2 

Mr.  John  Leveret,  my  Lord,  Mr.  Waban,  and  all  the  chief 
men  our  Brethren,  Praying  to  God  :  We  beseech  you  all  to  help 
us ;  my  Wife  she  is  but  one,  but  there  be  more  Prisoners,  which 
we  pray  you  keep  well :  Muitamuck  his  Wife,  we  entreat  you  for 
her,  and  not  onely  that  man,  but  it  is  the  Request  of  two  Sachems, 
Sam  Sachem  of  Weshakum,  and  the  Pakashoag  Sachem. 

And  then  that  further  you  will  consider  about  the  making 
Peace  :  We  have  spoken  to  the  People  of  Nashobak  (viz.  Tom 
Dubler  and  Peter,}  that  we  would  agree  with  you,  and  make  a 
Covenant  of  Peace  with  you  :  We  have  been  destroyed  by  your 
Souldiers,  but  still  we  Remember  it  now,  to  sit  still ;  do  you  con- 
sider it  again ;  we  do  earnestly  entreat  you,  that  it  may  be  so,  by 
Jesus  Christ,  O  !  let  it  be  so  !  Amen,  Amen. 

It  was  Signed 

Muttamuck,  his  Mark  N.  Uppanippaquem,  his  — C. 

Sam  Sachem,  his  Mark  ^.        Pakaskoag  his  Mark  *. 
Simon  Potto quam,  Scribe. 

Superscribed,  To  all  English-men  and  Indians,  all  of  you,  hear 
Mr.  Waban,  Mr.  Eliott. 

1  See  F.  C.  Pierce,  History  of  Grafton,  p.  40. 

2  Preserved  in  A  True  Account  of  the  Most  Considerable  Occurrences, 
etc.,  London,  1676,  pp.  6  ff. 


MORE   INDIAN   TALK  373 

My  Lord,  Mr.  Leveret  at  Boston,  Mr.  Waban,  Mr.  Eliott,  Mr. 
Gooken,  and  Council,  hear  ye.  I  went  to  Connecticott  about 
the  Captives,  that  I  might  bring  them  into  your  hands,  and  when 
we  were  almost  there,  the  English  had  destroy'd  those  Indians  ; 
when  I  heard  it,  I  return'd  back  again ;  then  when  I  came  home, 
we  were  also  destroyed ;  after  we  were  destroyed,  then  Philip  and 
Quanipun  went  away  into  their  own  Countrey  again  ;  and  I  know 
they  were  much  afraid,  because  of  our  offer  to  joyn  with  the 
English,  and  therefore  they  went  back  into  their  own  Countrey, 
and  I  know  they  will  make  no  Warre ;  therefore  because  when 
some  English  men  came  to  us,  Philip  and  Quanapun  sent  to  kill 
them ;  but  I  said,  If  any  kill  them,  I  '11  kill  them. 

Sam  Sachem. 

Written  by  Simon  Boshokum  Scribe. 

For  Mr.  Eliot,  Mr.  Gooken,  and  Mr.  Waban. 

Consider  of  this  I  Intreat  you,  consider  of  this  great  businesse 
that  is  done ;  and  my  wonder  concerning  Philip,  but  his  Name  is 

Wewesawanit,  he  engageth  all  the  people  that  were  none 

of  his  Subjects  :  Then  when  I  was  at  Penakook,  Numpho  John, 
Alline,  Sam  Numpho,  and  others  who  were  angry,  and  Numpho 
very  much  angry  that  Philip  did  engage  so  many  people  to  him  ; 
and  Numpho  said  it  were  a  very  good  deed  that  I  should  go  and 
kill  him  that  joyned  so  many  to  himself  without  cause  :  in  like 
manner  I  said  so  too.  Then  had  you  formerly  said  be  at  peace, 
and  if  the  Councill  had  sent  word  to  Kill  Philip  we  should  have 
done  it :  then  let  us  clearly  speak,  what  you,  and  we  shall  do. 
O  let  it  be  so  speedily,  and  answer  us  clearly. 

Pumkamun, 

Ponnakpukim, 

or,  Jacob  Muttamakoog. 

Sam  Sachem,  or  Sagamore  Sam,  was  a  Nashaway  chief, 
whose  Indian  name  was  Shoshanim.  We  have  already 
had  a  sample  of  his  diplomatic  correspondence  in  the 
letter  to  the  Council  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Rowlandson 


374      THE  °LD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

(April,  I676).1  That  letter,  however,  was  conceived  in  a 
very  different  spirit  from  the  first  of  the  present  series, 
and  is  probably  a  better  index  to  the  Sachem's  charac- 
ter. The  second  of  the  series  seems  to  contain  more 
of  the  sagamore  and  less  of  the  Christian  scribe.  Sam's 
attempts  to  make  peace  were  futile.  He  was  taken  and 
hanged.  Judge  Sewall's  Diary,  under  date  of  Septem- 
ber 26,  1676,  records  with  matter-of-fact  conciseness  the 
result  of  the  rigorous  proceedings  that  followed  King 
Philip's  War:  —  "  Sagamore  Sam  goes,  and  Daniel  Goble 
is  drawn  in  a  Cart  upon  bed  cloaths  to  Execution.  .  .  . 
One  ey'd  John,  Maliompe,  Sagamore  of  Quapaug,  Gen- 
eral at  Lancaster,  &c,  Jethro,  (the  Father)  walk  to  the 
Gallows." 

Four  documents  from  the  New  Hampshire  Provincial 
Papers  may  close  the  roll.2  They  are  from  the  distinguished 
Penacook  sachem,  John  Hogkins,  often  called  Hawkins. 
The  first  two  are  the  composition  of  Simon  Betogkom,  the 
same  person  who  wrote  the  letters  from  Sam  Sachem  just 
quoted.  The  variation  in  the  spelling  of  his  name  — 
Betogkom  or  Boshokum  —  is  by  no  means  unexampled. 
Hogkins  and  his  associates,  it  will  be  seen,  are  anxious  for 
peaceful  relations  with  the  white  men.  Their  letters  or 
petitions  were  all  presented  at  about  the  time  when  Gov- 
ernor Cranfield  left  the  Province.  The  last  of  the  series 
mentions  the  Governor's  departure: — "He  go  away,  so 
he  say,  at  last  night."  It  is  addressed  to  Robert  Mason, 
grandson  and  heir  of  Captain  John,  and  claimant  to  the 
Proprietorship  of  New  Hampshire.  It  is  a  satisfaction  to 
know  that  a  treaty  of  amity  and  reciprocal  justice  with  the 
Indians  was  signed  soon  after.3 

1  See  pp.  368-9,  above. 

2  New  Hampshire  Provincial  Papers,  I,  583-5.     There  are  several  signa- 
tures, besides  that  of  Hogkins  to  the  first  two  letters. 

3  Sept.  8,  1685  (Provincial  Papers,  I,  588). 


MORE   INDIAN   TALK  375 

May  I5th,  1685. 

Honour  Governor  my  friend,  you  my  friend  I  desire  your 
worship  and  your  power  Because  I  hope  you  can  do  som  great 
matters  this  once  I  am  poor  and  naked  and  I  have  no  men  at  my 
place  because  I  afraid  allways  mohogs  [i.  e.,  Mohawks]  he  will 
kill  me  every  day  and  night  if  your  worship  when  please  pray 
help  me  you  no  let  mohogs  kill  me  at  my  place  at  Malamake 
[i.  e.  Merrimac]  Revir  called  Panukkog  and  Natukkog  I  will 
submit  your  worship  and  your  power  and  now  I  want  powder 
and  such  allminishon  shott  and  guns  because  I  have  forth  at 
my  horn  and  I  plant  theare. 

This  all  Indian  hand  but 
pray  you  do  consider 

your  humble  Servant          JORN  HoGKINS. 

May  15th,  1685. 

Honour  mr  Governor  now  this  day  I  com  your  house  I  want 
se  you  and  I  Bring  my  hand  at  before  you  I  want  shake  hand  to 
you  if  your  worship  when  please  then  you  Receve  my  hand  then 
shake  your  hand  and  my  hand  you  my  friend  because  I  Remem- 
ber at  old  time  when  live  my  grant  father  and  grant  mother  then 
Englishmen  com  this  country  then  my  grant  father  and  English- 
men they  make  a  good  govenant  they  friend  allwayes  my  grant 
father  leving  at  place  called  malamake  Rever  other  Name  chef 
Natukkog  and  panukkog  that  one  Rever  great  many  names  and 
I  bring  you  this  few  skins  at  this  first  time  I  will  give  you  my 
friend 

This  all  Indian  hand  John+hawkins  Sagomor 

please  your  worship  I  will  intreat  your  matther  you  my  friend 
now  this  if  my  Indians  he  do  you  long  [i.  e.,  wrong]  pray  you  no 
put  your  law  because  som  my  Indians  fooll  som  men  much  love 
drunk  then  he  no  know  what  he  do  may  be  he  do  mischif  when 
he  drunk  if  so  pray  you  must  let  me  know  what  he  done  because 
I  will  ponis  him  what  he  have  done  you  you  my  friend  if  you 
desire  any  business  then  sent  me  I  will  help  you  if  I  can 

Mr.  John  hogkins 


376      THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 

mr  mason  pray  I  want  speake  you  a  few  words  if  your  worship 
when  please  because  I  com  parfas  [purpose]  I  will  speake  this 
Governor  but  he  go  away  so  he  say  at  last  night  and  so  far  I 
understand  this  governor  his  power  that  your  power  now  so  he 
speake  his  own  mouth  pray  if  you  take  what  I  want  pray  com  to 
me  because  I  want  go  horn  at  this  day. 

your  humble  servant, 

John  hogkins,  Indian  Sogmon. 
May  1 6th,  1685. 

The  rapid  disappearance  of  the  various  Indian  languages 
in  central  and  southern  New  England  is  noteworthy, 
though  not  astonishing.  Now  and  then  the  philologist 
has  the  melancholy  pleasure  of  being  present  at  the  last 
gasp  of  some  aboriginal  dialect.  No  longer  ago  than  1903 
Mr.  Frank  G.  Speck  discovered  a  scanty  remnant  of  the 
language  of  the  Scaticook  (Skaghticoke)  Indians  of  Litch- 
field  County,  Connecticut,  still  lingering  in  the  memory  of 
one  James  Harris,  "who  claimed  to  be  a  full-blood."  Harris 
had  learned  what  he  knew  of  the  matter  from  his  grand- 
mother, who  was  able  to  speak  the  language.  He  recollected 
but  twenty-three  words  and  three  connected  sentences,  one 
of  which  meant,  as  he  interpreted  it,  "  Hurry  up  to  the 
hotel  and  get  a  drink,"  or  more  probably,  as  Professor 
Prince  has  made  out,  "  Come  along,  my  friends,  and  we 
will  have  a  drink."  l  Either  reading  is  significant  enough. 
It  may  be  added,  since  neither  Mr.  Speck  nor  Professor 
Prince  notices  the  circumstance,  that  the  late  Benson  J. 
Lossing  visited  the  Skaghticoke  reservation  about  1859 
and  held  a  long  conversation  with  Eunice  Mahwee,  a 
granddaughter  of  the  Gideon  Mahwee  who  is  said  to  have 
formed  the  settlement  in  1728.  Mr.  Lossing  contributed 
an  account  of  his  visit  to  Scribner's  Monthly  for  October, 

1  Prince  and  Speck,  Proceedings  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society, 
XLII,  346  ff. 


MORE   INDIAN  TALK  377 

1871,  under  the  title  "The  Last  of  the  Pequods."  1  His 
article  is  provided  with  a  portrait  of  Eunice  Mahwee,  who, 
when  he  saw  her,  was  "  just  one  hundred  years  old,"  and 
who  regarded  herself  as  the  only  pure-blooded  survivor  of 
her  tribe.  In  1836  Eunice  Mawehu  contributed  informa- 
tion about  her  people  to  J.  W.  Barber;  but  neither  Barber 
nor  Lossing  says  anything  about  her  knowledge  of  the  In- 
dian language.2  Another  Connecticut  tribe,  also  studied 
by  Mr.  Speck,  have  remembered  their  native  tongue  better. 
In  the  village  of  Mohegan,  near  Norwich,  live  some  fifty 
Pequots,  and  there  are  about  fifty  more  in  the  adjacent 
towns  who  belong  to  the  same  group.  Though  all  are 
American  citizens,  they  still  maintain  the  form  of  their  old 
tribal  government,  and  meet  annually  in  the  church  at 
Mohegan,  —  for  they  are  sufficiently  devout  Congregation- 
alists,  —  to  celebrate  the  ancient  Green-corn  Feast.  Their 
habitual  language  is  English,  but  two  of  the  women,  a  Mrs. 
Fielding  and  her  sister,  are  able  to  speak  Pequot,  and  the 
former  can  write  it  with  some  fluency.3  In  less  than  a 
generation,  however,  the  old  dialect  will  undoubtedly  dis- 
appear, though  certain  words  and  phrases,  and  perhaps  a 
sentence  or  two,  may  linger  in  the  memory  of  individuals. 
The  discoveries  of  Mr.  Speck  carry  one's  imagination  back 
to  the  fate  of  the  ancient  Cornish  tongue,  which  ceased  to 
be  a  living  language  when  Dolly  Pentreath  died  in  1777. 

Our  discussion  has  led  us  far  away  from  High  Howder's 
writ  as  reported  by  Mr.  Thomas,4  but  it  may  be  hoped 

1  Reprinted  by  W.  W.   Beach,  The  Indian    Miscellany,  Albany,    1877, 
pp.  452  ff 

2  Connecticut  Historical  Collections,  pp.  200,  note,  471 ;  see  also  Samuel 
Orcutt,  The  Indians  of  the  Housatonic  and  Naugatuck  Valleys,  Hartford, 
1882,  pp.  197  ff. 

3  See  Speck  and  Prince,  American  Anthropologist,    1903,  New  Series, 

v,  193  «• 

*  See  p.  333,  above. 


378 


THE  OLD  FARMER'S  ALMANACK 


that  our  scrutiny  of  the  literary  efforts  of  our  aboriginal 
predecessors  has  not  been  altogether  devoid  of  interest. 
At  all  events,  it  has  served  to  illustrate  the  diversity  of 
subjects  which  occupied  the  mind  of  the  Old  Farmer  and 
which  lend  character  to  his  venerable  Almanack. 


INDEX 


ABDV,  E.  S.,  on  New  England  stages, 

293- 

Academies,  in  New  England,  228  ff.  ; 
Mr.  Thomas  on,  228  f . ;  for  women, 
230. 

Acadia,  Jesuits  in,  109. 

Accounts,  squaring,  81  f.,  99  f.,  316. 

Adams,  C.  F.,  172. 

Adams,  John,  on  pettifoggers,  99  ;  on 
New  England  institutions,  225  ;  on 
American  fondness  for  titles,  234  ; 
description  of  innkeepers,  264, 
269  f . 

Adams  and  Liberty,  song,  by  R.  T. 
Paine,  149. 

Addison  on  witchcraft,  114. 

Advertisements,  8  f.,  137,  264  f.,  269, 
276  ff.,  296  f.,  3isff. 

ALschylus,  71. 

Agamemnon,  murder  of,  71 ;  tragedy 
by  ^Eschylus,  71. 

Agamenticus,  Maine,  murder  at,  75. 

Agawam,  Mass.,  245. 

Agriculture,  in  the  United  States  in 
17&3>  T7  5  improvements  in,  21  ;  ob- 
servations on,  desired  by  Mr. 
Thomas,  25  f. ;  Roman  calendar  of, 
78  f.  ;  Cato's  precepts  compared 
with  Mr.  Thomas's,  79  f. ;  pre- 
cepts of  the  Farmer's  Calendar, 
80  If. ;  kitchen  gardens,  84  ff. ;  hired 
men,  85  f.  180;  haymaking,  88, 
182  f. ;  tradition  in,  91  f. ;  parsnips, 
91  f . ;  cattle  shows,  93;  books  on, 
128,  141  f.,  309  f.,  311  ff  ;  huskings, 
1 68  ff. ;  changing  works,  179  ff. ;  in- 
sect pests,  179,  181,  186  f . ;  wages, 
iSo;  women  as  laborers,  182  f . ; 
crows  and  corn,  189  f. ;  Indian  sum- 
mer and  the  crops,  191,  198;  rail- 
roads and,  301  f . ;  moon  and,  305  ff. 
See  also  Farmer's  Almanack  ;  Far- 
mer's Calendar ;  Indian  corn ; 
Wheat. 


Agricultural  fairs,  93. 

Ague  cured  by  sympathetic  remedy, 
117  ;  spiders  as  remedy,  119. 

Air,  theories  about,  166  f. 

Air-pump,  307. 

Albany,  N.  Y.,  stage  line  from  Boston 
to,  287  ;  so-called  Telegraph  Line 
of  stages,  296 ;  railroad,  298  f. 

Alders,  clearing  land  of,  312. 

Aldrich,  T.  B.,  on  Sunday  reading,  317. 

Alert,  of  U.  S.  Navy,  215. 

Alexander,  Sir  James,  on  Indians  of 
Canada,  160. 

Algonquins,  359. 

Allen,  J.,  gardener,  9. 

Allen,  Dr.  T.,  writing  master,  5. 

Allen,  William,  D.D.,  on  Waban  and 
Indian  warrant,  334  f. 

All-hallown  summer,  193. 

Almanacs,  astrology  in,  39  ff.,  43  ff., 
53  ff.,  108  ;  stamp  duty  on,  46  f. ; 
burlesques  on,  40,  44  ff .,  48  ff.,  56  f. ; 
the  Man  of  the  Signs  in,  53  ff. ; 
pictures  in,  62  ff. ;  miscellaneous 
contents  of,  71  ;  circulated  by 
peddlers,  i39ff.  See  also  Calen- 
dar ;  Farmer's  Calendar. 

Almanacs:  see  Ames,  Bickerstaff, 
Billings,  British,  Browne,  Carleton, 
Clough,  Dekker,  Farmer's,  Gad- 
bury,  Kalender  of  Shepherdes, 
Partridge,  Pond,  Poor  Robin,  Poor 
Will.  Rabelais,  Raphael,  Robie, 
Smith  and  Forman,  Thomas,  I., 
Thomas,  R.  B.,  Travis,  Woodward, 
Zadkiel. 

Altweibersommer,  194. 

American  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences,  134,  152,  167,  198. 

American  Anthropologist,  377. 

American  Antiquarian  Society,  16, 
337  rf. 

American  Philosophical  Society,  126, 
376. 


INDEX 


Ames,  Jonathan,  and  his  mother, 
tried  for  murder,  74. 

Ames,  Dr.  Nathaniel,  his  almanac 
and  his  tavern,  59  f.,  264  f.,  304;  as 
an  astrologer,  59  f . ;  his  treatment 
of  the  Man  of  the  Signs,  59  f. 

Ames,  Dr.  Nathaniel,  Jr.,  on  lawyers, 
103;  on  huskings,  172. 

Amherst,  Mass.,  stage  from  Boston 
to,  288. 

Amsterdam  Society  for  Rescue  of  the 
Drowned,  163  f. 

Amusements  :  see  Angling ;  Bowling  ; 
Cattle  shows;  Christmas;  Horse- 
races ;  Hunting ;  Huskings  ;  Music  ; 
Playing  cards  ;  Shows ;  Shrovetide  ; 
Skating;  Spinning  bees;  Stool- 
ball ;  Theatres ;  Training;  Turkey- 
shooting. 

Anacreon  in  Heaven,  tune,  149. 

Anatomy,  or  Man  of  the  Signs,  53  ff., 
312. 

Ancient  and  Honorable  Artillery 
Company,  211  f. 

Andros,  Sir  Edmund,  345. 

Anecdotes:  Madam  Hayley  and  the 
Dutch  envoy,  n  f. ;  Beast  of  Gevau- 
dun,  69  f. ;  Murders  Strangely  Dis- 
covered, 72  f. ;  dogs  at  table,  84; 
Neighbor  Freeport,  94  ff. ;  Toad 
and  Spider,  104  ff. ;  Mouse  and 
Snake,  108  ;  resuscitation,  120  f . ; 
scene  in  Virginia,  142  f. ;  fires,  147 
f . ;  rescue  of  John  Wesley,  148  f. ; 
a  fire  in  Boston,  150  f . ;  Judge 
SewalPs  escape,  153  f . ;  recovery 
of  drowned  bodies,  i  <;8  ff. ;  revival 
of  the  drowned,  164  ff. ;  Gen.  Eaton 
and  the  Bey,  208 ;  Militia  Captain, 
212  i.;  John  Barnard  and  Master 
Cheever,  231  f . ;  Sunday  travelling, 
238  f. ;  the  Vermont  Nimrod,  240  f. ; 
Sam  Hyde,  241  ff . ;  an  Indian  in 
King  Philip's  War,  243  f. ;  marks- 
manship, 245  ff.  ;  hunting  stories, 
240  f.,  247  f. ;  Washington  and  the 
mosquitoes,  248  f. ;  English  traveller 
and  the  Sea  Serpent,  249  f. ;  John 
Dunton  and  the  mermaid,  250; 
Moon  Hoaxes,  251  ff . ;  inquisitive- 
ness,  268  f. ;  Washington  and  the 
innkeeper,  270  f. ;  Rochefoucault  in 
New  Jersey,  277  f. ;  Admiral  James 
and  New  England  hospitality,  281 
ff. ;  the  moon  and  the  brain,  307  f. ; 


Dr.  Deane  and  Balaam,  308 f;  Dr. 

Deane    and    Capt.   Mowatt,    309 ; 

Barberries    and    Wheat,   329    ff. ; 

Indian  anecdotes,  241  ff.,  333  ff. 
Angels, fallen,  as  pagan  divinities,  109. 
Angling,  64  f. 

Anglo-Saxon  calendars,  66. 
Animals  exhibited  at  inns,  277. 
Annian,  Straits  of,  discovered  by  Sir 

Francis  Drake,  321. 
Antidote  against  Atheism,  by  Henry 

More,  in. 

Antidotes,  animals  seek,  104  ff. 
Apenanucsuck,  Indian,  351  f. 
Apollo  Press,  Boston,  322. 
Apparitions,  revealing  murder,  73  f. 
Apple  trees,  when  to  plant,  313. 
Apples,  keeping  through  winter,  309  ; 

effect   of  the  moon  on,  309  f. ;  mo- 
lasses from,  129. 
Apprentices,  144. 
Arabian  Nights,  sold  by  Mr.  Thomas, 

3!9- 

Arachne,  myth  of,  106  f. 

Army  and  navy,  208  ff. 

Army  officers  as  innkeepers,  263  f., 
266  ;  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  263. 

Arsenic,  use  in  plague,  117. 

Art  in  almanacs,  etc.,  62  ff . 

Artillery  Election,  211  f. 

Ashes,  warm,  as  means  of  resuscita- 
tion, 164. 

Ashmole,  Elias,  on  spiders  as  ague 
cure,  119. 

Ass's  shoe,  to  ward  off  evil  spirits, 
206. 

Astrology,  39  ff.,  53  ff.,  305  ff. ;  in 
New  England,  39  ff.,  305  ff. ;  dis- 
cussed in  Harvard  theses  for  A.  M., 
40  f. ;  Man  of  the  Signs,  53  ff.  ; 
comets,  199  ff. ;  in  English  and 
American  almanacs,  43  ff.,  53  ff., 
305  ff .,  burlesqued,  4of .,  45  ff .,  48  ff., 
56 f.;  ridiculed,  58  ff. 

Astronomy  :  see  Astrology;  Comets  ; 
Eclipses ;  Sun  spots. 

Atherton,  Humphrey,  magistrate  set 
over  Indians,  340. 

Auctions  at  inns,  278. 

Austin,  Alfred,  poet  laureate,  193. 

Autumn  :  see  Indian  summer. 

BACHELORS  and  maids,  jocose  predic- 
tions concerning,  50  ff. 
Bacon,  Lord,  112. 


INDEX 


381 


Baker,  E.  J.,on  Patrick  Jeffrey,  13. 

Bakers,  expense  of  patronizing,  93?. 

Ball  playing,  174. 

Ballads,  144,  161. 

Bamherg,  witchcraft  in,  113. 

Barbary  pirates,  208 ;  war  of  United 
States  with  Barbary  States,  238. 

Barber,  J.  W.,  Connecticut  Histori- 
cal Collections,  247,  352,  377 ;  on 
Connecticut  Indians,  377. 

Barberry  bushes,  hard  to  destroy, 
328  ff. ;  thought  to  blast  wheat  and 
rye,  328  ff. 

Barclay,  Andrew,  Boston  bookbinder, 

7- 

Barefoot,  habit  of  going,  222. 

Barlaam  and  Joasaph,  legend  of,  137  f. 

Barlow,  Joel,  his  Hasty  Pudding, 
170  f.;  his  Columbiad,  170;  on 
huskings,  170;  agent  of  Scioto 
Company,  171  ;  in  French  Revolu- 
tion, 171  ;  at  Chambery,  171. 

Barnard,  Rev.  John,  his  controversy 
with  Pigot  as  to  Christmas,  176  f. ; 
his  Autobiography,  177,  231  ;  his 
relations  with  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, 177  ;  his  school  days,  231  f. 

Barnstable,  Mass.,  salt-works  at, 
135  f. ;  county  courts  at,  333. 

Barnstable  County  :  see  Cape  Cod. 

Bayberry  tallow,  189. 

Bayley,  Col.  Frye,  180. 

Beach,  W.  W.,  Indian  Miscellany,377. 

Beal,  Rev.  John,  on  spiders,  119. 

Beaman,  Hannah,  7. 

Bear,  Polar,  exhibited  in  Boston,  277. 

Beast  of  Ge vauclun,  69  ff. 

Beef,  when  to  kill,  306. 

Beer,  262. 

Belknap,  Jeremy,  D.  D.,  on  witch- 
craft, no;  letter  on  fire-engines, 
152;  on  the  Dark  Day,  204  f. ;  on 
maple  sugar,  123,  229;  his  tour  to 
Niagara,  294  f. ;  his  History  of 
New  Hampshire,  123,  315,  320;  his 
American  Biography,  320. 

Belknap,  Joseph,  Boston  printer,  322. 

Beloe,  William,  his  account  of  Madam 
Hayley,  9  ff.  ;  Southey's  opinion  of 
his  style,  10. 

Belpre,  on  the  Ohio,  129. 

Bennett,  Joseph,  on  travel  in  New 
England,  285  f. 

Bentley,  Richard,  192. 

Beowulf,  Anglo-Saxon  epic,  166. 


Berkle,  van,  Dutch  ambassador,  his 

call  on  Hancock,  u  f. 
Berserk  rage,  159. 
Berwick,  Maine,  Dwight's  journey  to, 

329- 

Bethlehem,  Pa.,  Moravian  female 
seminary  at,  230. 

Betogkum  (Boshokum,  Pottoquam), 
Indian  scribe,  372  f.,  374  f. 

Beverly,  Mass.,  salt-works  at,  132. 

Bevis  of  Hampton,  romance  and 
chapbook, 137. 

Biard,    Father,  on  Indians  as   devil- 
worshippers,  109. 
j  Bible,  Eliot's  Indian,  371. 
|  Bickerstaff,    Isaac,    pseudonym     for 
Swift,  45. 

Bickerstaff's  Boston  Almanack,  pic- 
tures in,  69. 

Bier :  see  Ordeal. 

Bigelow,  Jacob,  M.  D.,  on  Mysteries 
of  Udolpho,  318  f. 

Biglow,  William,  on  Thomas  Waban 
and  Indian  warrant,  335  ;  records 
of  Natick,  Mass.,  346;  Natick 
Indian  anecdotes,  363. 

Billings,  Hammatt,  as  illustrator  of 
the  Farmer's  Almanack,  63. 

Billings,  Josh  (H.  W.  Shaw),  Old 
Farmer's  Allminax,  56  f. ;  burles- 
que on  the  Man  of  the  Signs,  56  f. 

Bingham,  Caleb,  master  of  girls' 
schools  and  author  of  school-books, 
229  f. 

Birch,  Thomas,  D.  D.,  119,  i66f.,  308. 

Black,  Rev.  W.  G.,  his  Folk-Medi- 
cine, 119. 

Black  staff,  sign  of  constable's  office, 
342. 

Blackmore,  Sir  Richard,  his  Prince 
Arthur,  170. 

Blasting  of  wheat,  327  ff . ;  thought  to 
be  effect  of  barberry  bushes,  328  ff. 

Bleeding  of  corpse,  74  ff. 

Bliss,  Joel  W.,  advertisement,  269. 

Bliss,  Samuel,  352. 

Bliss,  W.  W.,  246. 

Blister  bugs,  186  f. 

Blistering,  186  f. 

Blood,  Indian  superstition  regarding, 

355- 

Bloodletting  and  the  signs  of  the  zo- 
diac, 53. 

Blue  Mountain,  304. 

Boarding-houses,  263,  280. 


382 


INDEX 


Boarding  round,  of  schoolmasters,  6. 
Body,  dominion  of  the  moon  in  man's, 

53  ff. 

Boer  War,  47. 
Bogs,  clearing,  311  ff. 
Bohemian  folk-lore,  159. 
Bolton,  C.  K.,  244,  247. 
Book  of  Knowledge,  42  f . 
Bookbinding,  7. 
Books  for  children,  137 ;  chapbooks, 

137  ff- 

Bookselling  in  New  England,  7  f., 
317  ff. ;  country  imprints,  317. 

Bordley,  J.  B.,  his  Husbandry,  128; 
on  watermelon  sugar,  128. 

Bore,  fitienne  de,  sugar  planter,  128. 

Boshokum :  see  Betogkum. 

Boston,  society  in,  12;  smallpox  in, 
14;  population  of,  20;  notions,  83 
f. ;  market  for  provisions,  83  ff . ; 
Lechforcl  in,  98  ;  booksellers,  139; 
theatre  at,  150  ;  method  of  building 
houses,  150?.;  fire  in,  A.  D.  1796, 
described,  150!  ;  amateur  firemen, 
151;  Fire  Department,  152;  fire- 
engines  in,  152;  United  Fire  So- 
ciety, opposite  152;  carrying  fire 
and  smoking  in  the  streets,  155  f. ; 
taverns  in,  163,  287  ff.  ;  South 
Church  in,  201 ;  lightning  rods  in, 
2ot  ff . ;  Artillery  Election,  211  f.  ; 
Latin  School,  231  ff . ;  inns  in,  163, 
276  f.,  287  ff. ;  stages,  288  ff.  ;  292, 
293 ;  stage  and  post  roads,  299, 
303  ff. ;  railroads  from,  297  ff.  See 
also  Pemberton  Hill ;  Tremont  St. ; 
Vassall  estate. 

Boston  Advertiser,  300. 

Boston  and  Albany  Railroad,  298  ff. 

Boston  and  Lowell  Railroad,  300  f. 

Boston  and  Providence  Railroad,  300. 

Boston  and  Worcester  Railroad,  300  f. 

Boston  Neck,  salt-works  on,  133. 

Bours,  Rev.  Peter,  of  Marblehead, 
Mass.,  177. 

Bow  and  arrow,  method  of  carrying, 
360. 

Bowling,  Mr.  Thomas  on,  276. 

Boxford,  Mass.,  Ames  murder  at,  74. 

Boyle,  Robert,  119,  on  death  for  lack 
of  air,  166 ;  improver  of  air-pump, 
307 ;  on  the  moon  and  the  brain,  307; 
his  law  of  gases,  307. 

Boyle's  Voyages,  work  of  fiction,  323  f . 

Boylston,  Mass.,  4. 


Bradford,  Gov.  William,  on  salt  manu- 
facture, 131  f. ;  on  Christmas,  173  f. 

Bradford  Academy,  230. 

Brain,  moon's  effect  on,  305,  307  ;  the 
tides  and  the,  307. 

Braintree,  Mass.,  lawyers  in,  99. 

Bramhall,  Bishop  John,  controversy 
with  Hobbes,  57. 

Brand,  John,  on  Shrovetide  sports, 
178. 

Brattleboro',  Vermont,  269,  317. 

Brayley,  A.  W.,  on  fire-engines,  152. 

Bread,  baker's,  93  f.  ;  made  of  Indian 
meal,  286. 

Breathing  under  water,  167. 

Breck,  Samuel,  n  ;  account  of  Madam 
Hay  ley,  n  ff. 

Brewster,  Sir  David,  253. 

Bricriu,  Feast  of,  Irish  saga,  355. 

Briggs,  Samuel,  Essays,  etc.,  of  Na- 
thaniel Ames,  58,  60. 

Brine,  leaking,  sign  of  short  crops, 
206. 

Bristles,  for  brush-making,  187  f. 

British  Almanac,  46  f. 

Brooke,  Henry,  his  Fool  of  Quality, 

3r9- 

Brookfield,  Mass.,  226. 

Brookline,  Mass.,  stage  from  Boston 
to,  290. 

Brooks,  Henry  M.,  8,  238,  276. 

Brown,  Charles  Brockden,  on  Indian 
summer,  194. 

Browne,  Daniel,  hexameters  on  the 
signs,  55 ;  his  almanac,  55. 

Browne,  Sir  Thomas,  on  toads  and 
spiders,  107. 

Browning,  The  Grammarian's  Fu- 
neral, title  anticipated  by  Tompson, 

233- 

Brush-making,  188. 

Buckingham,  Joseph  T.,  on  ballads 
and  chapbooks,  144 ;  on  bristles, 
188 ;  reprints  Washington's  di- 
ploma, 237  ;  on  railroads,  298  f. 

Bucktails,  nickname  for  Democrats, 
280. 

Buddha,  Joasaph  identical  with,  138. 

Buddhistic  parables,  138. 

Bugs,  179,  181. 

Bulfinch,  Dr.  Thomas,  on  use  of  to- 
bacco smoke  in  resuscitation,  164. 

Bull,  Frederick,  tavern  at  Hartford, 
Conn.,  123. 

Bunch  of  Grapes  Tavern,  Boston,  163. 


INDEX 


383 


Burlesque  Almanacs :  see  Dekker, 
Poor  Robin,  Rabelais,  Billings. 

Burlington,  Vt.,  stage,  294. 

Burney,  Miss,  her  novels  sold  by  Mr. 
Thomas,  318. 

Burning  over  the  woods,  Indian  cus- 
tom, 195. 

Burnt  Cabins,  the,  on  the  Ohio  Road, 

3°4- 
Bushes,  mowing,  effect  of  the  moon, 

306,  310  ff. ;  eradicating,  328  ff. 
Bushnell,  R.,  351  f. 
Busybodies,  sketches  of,  89,  90  f. 
Bute  County,  N.  C.,  tavern,  263. 
Butter,  cream  bewitched,  206. 
Buttonwood  bushes,  312. 
Buzzard's  Bay,  Mass.,  246. 
Byron  and  Zeluco,  319. 

CAKES,  Shrove  Tuesday,  177  f. 

Calash,  349. 

Calendar,  manuscript,  54;  illustra- 
tions for,  62  ff. ;  Roman  farmer's, 
65  f.  78  f.  ;  Anglo-Saxon,  66 ; 
Athenian  liturgical,  66;  illumin- 
ated, 66.  See  Farmer's  Calendar. 

Cambridge,  Eng.,  Christ's  College,  3. 

Cambridge,  Mass.,  Indian  school  at, 
76 ;  stage  from  Boston  to,  290.  See 
Harvard  College. 

Canada,  Jesuits  in,  109;  Indians  of, 
109,  124,  1 60. 

Candler,  Isaac,  on  American  inquisi- 
tiveness,  268  f. ;  on  inns,  269. 

Candles,  189. 

Cannibalism,  355  f. 

Canonchet,  capture  of,  356. 

Canso,  N.  S.,  73. 

Canterbury  Tales,  61,  72. 

Cantharides,  186  f. 

Canton,  Mass.,  stage  from  Boston  to, 
290. 

Cape  Ann,  stage  from  Boston  to, 
289. 

Cape  Cod,  96;  Dwight's  journey  to, 
129;  salt  manufacture  on,  129  ff . ; 
Thoreau's,  135  ;  lighthouse  on,  163. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  observatory  at, 
254  ff. 

Captives  taken  by  Indians,  171, 
368  ff. 

Cards,  playing,  95  f.,  139. 

Carleton,  Osgood,  8  f. ;  his  mathe- 
matical school,  8;  his  almanac,  8; 
his  English  accent,  8  f. ;  invited 


to     contribute     to     the     Farmer's 

Almanack,  8. 
Carts,  285. 
Carver,  Capt.  John,  his  explorations, 

320  f. ;  his  escape  at  the  massacre 

of  Fort  William  Henry,  321. 
Castine,   Maine,   trial   of    Susup   at, 

365  f- 
Cat,  black,  dreaming  of,  206 ;   cat's 

tail  as  weather  sign,  205. 
Catalogue  of   books  sold   by  R.   B. 

Thomas,  318  ff. 
Cato  on  agriculture,  compared  with 

the  Farmer's  Calendar,  79  f. 
Cattle  shows,  93. 
Caughnawaga  Indians,  171. 
Ceyx  and  Alcyone,  196  f. 
Chabanakongkomun  (Dudley,  Mass.), 

34.0  f . 

Chairs  or  chaises,  286. 
Changing  works,  179  ff. 
Chapbooks,  42,  137  ff. 
Chapmen  and  their  books,  137  ff. 
Character  sketches  in  the  Almanac, 

86  ff. 

Charity  inculcated,  81. 
Chaucer,  56,  61,  72,  155  f.,  348,  355. 
Cheever,  Ezekiel,  anecdotes  of,  231 

ff. ;  elegy  on,  232  f. 
Chemical  medicine,  rise  of,  118. 
Chesterfield,  Lord,  his  Letters,  318. 
Child,  Francis  J.,  his  Ballads,  161. 
Chimneys,   sweeping,    146;     glazing, 

148. 

Christmas,  objection  to  the  celebra- 
tion of,  173  ff. ;  date  of,  175  ff. 
Church,  Thomas,  his    King  Philip's 

War,  358. 

Church  of  England,  174,  176  f. 
Church-going,  88. 
Cider,  83  f.,  172,  282,  315;  selling  to 

Indians,  fine  for,  351  f. 
Cigars,  147,  154  f.,  156  f.,  220  f. 
Cincinnati,  Society  of,  motto  of,  263. 
Circle  of  the  months,  figure,  66. 
Clark,   James,    White    Lion   tavern, 

Boston,  288. 
Clayton,     B.,    translator     of     Israel 

Hiibner,  314. 

Clearing  land,  311  ff.,  328  ff. 
Clergy,  100,  108  ff.,  125,  172  f.,  175  ff., 

181  f.,  197  f.,  199  ff.,  204  f.,  223  f., 

230,  260,  271, 336  ff.    See  Ministers. 
Cleveland,  John,  on  the  Man  of  the 

Signs,  58. 


384 


INDEX 


Climate,   191  ff.     See  also  Weather. 

Clough,  Samuel,  his  almanac,  58;  on 
the  Man  of  the  Signs,  58. 

Clytemnestra,  115. 

Coaches,  private,  286.  See  Stage- 
coaches. 

Cobbett,  Wm.,  Treatise  on  Garden- 
ing, 141. 

Cock,  throwing  at  the,  177  f. 

Coffee,  consumption  of,  184  f. ;  po- 
tatoes as  a  substitute  for,  184  f. 

Cogan,  Dr.  Thomas,  on  resuscitation, 
163. 

Cogswell,  Dr.  M.  F.,  on  Indian  sum- 
mer, 191  f. 

Coins,  silver,  value  in  1797,  37. 

Colonial    Society  'of   Massachusetts, 

235- 

Columbiacl,  epic  by  Joel  Barlow,  170. 

Columbian  Centinel,  238,  276. 

Columbian  Muse,  318. 

Comets,  41  ;  effect  on  weather,  191, 
198  ff . ;  portentous,  198  ff . ;  In- 
crease Mather  on,  199  f. ;  Professor 
Winthrop  on,  200. 

Company  of  Stationers,  publishers  of 
almanacs,  46  f. 

Congress  in  1794,  234. 

Connecticut,  maple  sugar  in,  122  f . ; 
peddlers  in,  144  f. ;  schools  in, 227  f. ; 
Sunday  laws  in,  238  f. ;  Indians  in, 
124  ff.',  376  f. 

Connecticut  Courant,  164. 

Constables,  Indian,  333  ff.,  338,  340  ff. 

Constitution,  frigate,  215. 

Continental  Congress  encourages  salt- 
making,  133. 

Conveyance,  means  of,  285  ff. 

Cooper,  Judith  (Sewall),  14. 

Corn,  huskings,  168  ff. ;  red  ears, 
1 68,  171  f.  ;  crows,  189  f. ;  corn 
crop  and  Indian  summer,  198;  uses 
of,  191  ;  the  word,  in  England  and 
America,  327  f. 

Cornish,  murder  of,  75. 

Cornish  language,  377. 

Cornstalks,  molasses  from,  129. 

Corpse,  bleeding  of,  74  ff. 

Corpse  lights,  162. 

Correspondents  of  the  Almanac,  25  ff. 

Costume,  63  ff.,  222  ;  Indian,  359  f. 

Cotton,  Rev.  John,  estate  on  Pem- 
berton  (Cotton)  Hill,  14. 

Cotton,  John,  349. 

Cotton,  Rev.  Seaborn,  14. 


Counter-irritants,  186  f. 

County  fairs,  93. 

Courts,  held  at  taverns,  278;  Indian, 

337  «• 

Courts  martial,  210  f. 
Coverly,  N.,  Boston  printer,  7. 
Cracow,  salt  mine  at,  134. 
Cranfield,    Gov.    Edward,    of     New 

Hampshire,  374  ff. 
Cream  bewitched,  206. 
Crosby,  Rev.  C.  C.  P.,  5,  98. 
Crown  Point,  expedition  to,  in  1756,  4. 
Crows,    means   of    preventing   them 

from  pulling  up  corn,  189  f. 
Cumberland  Gazette,  182. 
Cure  for  greasy  heels  in  horses,  188  ; 

wonderful  cures,  1  1  5  ff. 
Curiosity  of  Americans,  268  f. 
Currency,    37  ;    different    standards, 

38  ;  tenor  bill,  352  f. 
Currier,  J.  J.,  historian  of  Newbury, 

Mass.,  262. 
Curtis,   G.  W.,  on    the    Pilgrim  and 

Puritan  Christmas,  174  f. 
Cutler,     Rev.      Manasseh,     on     the 

weather,   198. 
Cuts  :  see  Illustrations. 

DACIA  :  see  Petrus  de  Dacia. 

Dairy,  cleanliness  in,  182. 

Dark  Day  of  1780,  203  ff  .  ;  of  1819, 

205. 
Davenport,  Abraham,  poem  by  Whit- 

tier,  203. 
Davis,  John,  traveller  and  pedagogue, 

on  ballad  peddler,  142  f.  ;  on  Fair- 

banks murder,  142  f.  ;  on  inns  and 

innkeepers,  263,  283  f.  ;  on  motto 

of  the  Cincinnati,  263  ;    on  hospi- 

tality, 284. 
Davis,  Judge  John,  edition  of  Mor- 

ton's Memorial,  327,  333  ;  on  wheat, 

327  ;    version   of    Indian   warrant, 

333  f.  ;  early  life,  334. 
Davy,  John,  M.  D.,  on  the  poison  of 

the  toad,  115. 
Day,  Benjamin  H.,  founder  of  New 

York    Sun,    259;    on    the    Moon 

Hoax,  259. 
Day,  Thomas,  his  Sandford  and  Mer- 

ton,  319. 
Dead   languages,  Thomas  Paine  on, 


Deane,  Samuel,  D.  D.,  his  New  Eng- 
land Farmer,  or  Georgical  Diction- 


INDEX 


385 


ary,  142,  309  f.  ;  spinning  bee  at  his 

house,  181  f.  ;  his  character,  308  f.  ; 

his  humor,  308  f.  ;   on  the  moon's 

effect  on  apples,  etc.,  309  f. 
Dearborn,  Benjamin,  Directions   for 

preventing     Calamities     by     Fire, 

146  ff.  ;  his  inventions,  152  f. 
Death  and  moon,  308. 
Debt,  precepts  concerning,  95. 
Decatur,  Stephen,  215. 
Dedham,  Mass.,  Sun   tavern,  264  f., 

304  ;   stage  from  Boston   to,  290  ; 

Indian  school  at,  345. 
Dedham  Historical  Register,  103. 
Deer  Island,  Mass.,  Indians  confined 

in,  343  f.,  368. 
Defoe,  Daniel,  his  Religious  Court- 

ship, sold  by  Mr.  Thomas,  319. 
Degrees,  academic  :  LL.  D.,  234  ff.  ; 

A.  M.,  40  f.,  116  f. 
Dekker,  Thomas,  his  Ravens  Alma- 

nacke,  56  ;  on  the  Man  of  the  Signs, 

56. 

Delaware  Indians,  353. 
Democrats,    headquarters    at    Tam- 

many Hall  in  iSiS,  280. 
Demonology  :  see  Witchcraft. 
Dennis,  Mass.,  salt   manufacture   at, 


Denny,    Maj.    Ebenezer,    on    Indian 

summer,  191. 

De  Quincey,  on  Indian  summer,  192. 
Derne,  capture  of,  238. 
Devil,  worship  of,  108  ff. 
Devoll,  Capt.  Jonathan,  manufacturer 

of  molasses  from  cornstalks,  129. 
De  Witt,  Benjamin,  M.  D.,  on  Onon- 

daga  salt-springs,  135. 
Dialect  :  see  Language. 
Dickinson,  John,  his  Farmer's  Let- 

ters, 68  ;  his  portrait,  68. 
Dickman,  Thomas,  printer,  144. 
Digby,  Sir  Kenelm,  his  sympathetic 

powder,  115  ff.;  on  toads,  117;  on 

the  plague,  117  ;  on  magnetic  treat- 

ment, 117. 

Diseases,  lunar,  314. 
Dissection    of   a   plague-stricken  pa- 

tient, 1  18. 
Divoli,   Hannah,  captive  among  In- 

dians, 369. 

Divorce,  Indian,  362. 
Dodd,  William,  D.  D.,  his  character 

and  execution,  318;  his  Thoughts 

in  Prison,  318. 


Dogs,  Mr.  Thomas  on,  84. 

Domestic  service,  84,  270  f.,  281,  283, 
286,  291. 

Dominion  of  the  moon  in  man's  body, 
53  «. 

Dorchester,  Mass.,  stage  from  Bos- 
ton to,  289;  opposition  to  railroad, 
302. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  his  discoveries 
on  the  Pacific  coast,  321. 

Drake,  S.  G.,  his  Book  of  the  Indians, 
241  ff.,  358,  368;  his  account  of 
Sam  Hyde,  241  ff. 

Draught  horses,  286. 

Dreams,  73,  206. 

Drinking,  31  f.,  io8ff.,  172,  272  ff.,  315. 

Drowning  :  recovery  of  bodies,  158  ff. ; 
resuscitation,  162  ff . ;  Dr.  Rowland 
Jackson's  treatise  on,  164  ff. 

Drunkard,  picture  of  a,  verses,  31  f. 

Drunkenness,  Indian,  335,  350  ff. 

Dublet  (Dubler),  Tom,  Indian,  368, 
372. 

Dudley,  Gov.  Joseph,  and  the  In- 
dian, 361  f. 

Dudley,  Paul,  on  maple  sugar,  124; 
and  Capt.  Uring,  361. 

Dudley,  Mass.,  Indian  settlement, 
340  f. 

Duncan,  J.  M.,  description  of  Tam- 
many Hall,  279  f. 

Dunton,  John,  his  Letters  from  New 
England,  139,  250,  341  ;  on  mer- 
maids, 250. 

Durham,  Conn.,  tavern  fare,  124. 

Dwight,  Elizabeth  A.,  319. 

Dwight,    Nathaniel,  his   Geography, 

317- 

Dwight,  Thomas,  M.  D.,  359. 

Dwight,  Timothy,  D.  D.,  President  of 
Yale  College,  tour  to  Cape  Cod, 
129;  on  salt  manufacture,  129  f . ; 
on  peddlers,  144 f.;  on  Washington 
and  mosquitoes,  249;  on  inns, 
271  f . ;  on  barberries,  329  f. 

EAGER,  Lydia,  2  f. 

Earthquakes,  Professor  Winthrop  and 
the  Rev.  Thomas  Prince  on,  200  ff. 

Eaton,  Gen.  William,  and  the  Bey  of 
Tunis,  208  ;  encounter  with  tithing- 
man,  238  f. ;  capture  of  Derne,  238. 

Eclipses  portentous,  59. 

Economies,  small,  184  ff. 

Economy,  85  ff.,  184  ff  ,  223. 


386 


INDEX 


Edes,  Henry  H.,  on  Washington's 
LL.  D.  and  Professor  Winthrop's, 
235. 

Education,  theories  of,  319  f.  See 
Schools. 

Edward  VII,  coronation,  48. 

Eels,  use  in  magnetic  treatment,  117. 

Election  sermons,  224. 

Electric  light,  261. 

Electricity  and  earthquakes,    201  ff. 

Elegies,  232  f. 

Elicluc,  Lay  of,  120. 

Eliot,  Abigail,  her  brains,  307. 

Eliot,  Rev.  Jared,  Essays  on  Field- 
Husbandry,  31  iff.;  on  the  influ- 
ence of  the  moon  on  vegetation, 
31  iff. 

Eliot,  Rev.  John,  his  mission  to  the 
Indians,  336  ff.,  367;  service  in 
Waban's  wigwam  at  Nonantum, 
335 f.,  345;  his  character  of  Wa- 
ban,  336  f.;  his  settlement  of 
Natick,  Mass.,  336 f.;  his  Indian 
Bible,  371. 

Eliot,  Rev.  John,  the  Younger,  on 
education  of  women,  229. 

Eliot  tracts,  the,  The  Day-Breaking, 
etc.,  196,  336  ff.,  345,  351. 

Emancipation,  I27f. 

Emerson,  Rev.  Wm.,  on  use  of  to- 
bacco smoke  in  resuscitation,  164. 

Enestrom,  G.,  on  Petrus  de  Dacia,  54. 

Enfield,  Conn.,  inn  at,  264. 

England,  witchcraft  in,  1 1 1  ff . ;  inns 
in,  266  ff. 

English  grain,  198. 

English  harvest,  198. 

English  language,  spread  of,  pre- 
dicted, 17  ;  as  spoken  by  Indians, 
333  ff . ;  in  America,  see  Language. 

Entertainment  for  man  and  beast, 
262  ff. 

Ephraim,    Deacon,    Natick    Indian, 

363- 

Epsom  salts,  manufacture  of,  134. 
Erra  Pater,  42. 
Essex,  of  U.  S.  Navy,  215. 
Essex  (Mass.)  Agricultural   Society, 

129. 

Essex  Antiquarian,  74. 
Evans's  tavern,  Boston,  289. 
Exaggeration,  humor  of,  240  ff. 
Exeter,  N.   H.,  books   published  at 

yj- 

Exploration,  321. 


FAIRBANKS,  EBENEZER,  144. 

Fairbanks,      Jason,      executed      for 
murder,    142  ff. 

Fairs,  agricultural,  93. 

Fales,  Betsy,  murder  of,  143. 

Falmouth,    Maine,   181 ;    burning   of, 
in  1775,  309. 

Falstaff,  193. 

Farcey,  how  cured,  117. 

Fares   on    stage   lines,    296 ;   wagon 
fare,  296. 

Farm  hands,  85  f. 

Farmer's  Almanack,  author  and 
history  of,  i  ff. ;  character  of  the 
time  when  first  issued,  17  ;  pref- 
ace to  the  first  number,  18  f. ;  to 
the  fiftieth  number,  19  ff . ;  to  that 
for  1901,  23f. ;  miscellaneous  con- 
tributors to,  25  ff . ;  correspond- 
ents, 25  ff.  ;  postage  tables,  35  ff.  ; 
table  of  money,  37  ;  freedom  from 
astrology,  39,  53;  illustrations, 
62  ff.;  anecdotes,  72  f.,  104,  158  f. ; 
Farmer's  Calendar,  78  ff. ;  charac- 
ter sketches,  87  ff.  ;  circulated  by 
book  peddlers,  139;  directions  for 
preventing  calamities  by  fire, 
146  ff. ;  directions  for  recovering 
persons  apparently  dead  from 
drowning,  162,  164  f.;  on  huskings, 
etc.,  168  ff. ;  on  changing  work, 
179 ff.;  on  spinning,  182;  on  small 
economies,  184  ff. ;  on  crows  and 
corn,  189  f. ;  on  Indian  summer, 
191 ;  on  superstition,  205  f. ;  on 
trainings,  209;  military  fines  in, 
209 ff.;  list  of  U.  S.  Navy  in  1813, 
213 f.;  on  schools,  217 ft.;  list  of 
Congress  in  1794,  234 ;  on  Sir 
William  Herschel's  discoveries  in 
the  moon,  251 ;  on  tavern-haunting, 
etc.,  272  ff. ;  list  of  stages,  287  ff. ; 
railroads,  299,  301  ff. ;  list  of  post 
roads,  303  ff. ;  on  the  moon,  305  ff. ; 
on  reading,  315  ff. ;  books  adver- 
tised in,  318  ff. ;  on  barberry  bushes, 
328  f. ;  Indian  warrant  in,  333  ff. 
See  also  Agriculture;  Amusements; 
Anecdotes ;  Farmer's  Calendar ; 
Poetry;  Proverbs;  Thomas,  R.  B. 

Farmer's    Calendar,    Wit    and    Wis- 
dom  of,  78  ff.  ;  Roman,  65,  78  ff. ; 
Mr.  Thomas  and  Cato,  79  f. 
Farmer's     Castle,     on     the      Ohio, 
129. 


INDEX 


387 


Farmer's  Letters,  by  John  Dickinson, 

68. 

Farming:  see  Agriculture. 
Fearing,  Israel,  his  gun,  245. 
Feast  of  Bricriu,  Irish  saga,  355. 
Federal  Galaxy,  269. 
Felt,  J.  B.,  historian  of  Ipswich,  Mass., 

73 ;  on  means  of  conveyance,  285. 
Ferguson,     James,    his     Astronomy 

studied  by  Mr.  Thomas,  6. 
Fetch  fire,  to,  155^ 
Fevers  and  moon,  308. 
Fiction  in  New  England,  318  f.,  322  f. 
Field,  Edward,  on  taverns,  265,  296. 
Fielding,  Mrs.,  Pequot,  377. 
Fielding's      novels,     sold     by      Mr. 

Thomas,  318. 
Fines,  for  carrying   fire  or   smoking 

in     streets,     155  f. ;     for    keeping 

Christmas,  174;   for   selling    cider 

to  Indians,  35 if.;  military,  209  ff. 
Fire,  precautions  against,  etc.,  146  ff. ; 

carrying,  iS5f. ;  laws,  i55f. 
Fire  companies  and  engines,  151  f. 
Fire-escapes,  152  f. 
Fire  insurance,  28,  150. 
Fire  societies,  1461!. 
Fireplaces,  146. 
Firewood,  when  to  cut,  306. 
Fitch,     Rev.     James,    of      Norwich, 

Conn.,  praying  for  rain,  363  f. 
Fitch,  Maj.  Thomas,  349. 
Flintlocks,  209. 
Flying  Machine,   coach,  296;    Flying 

Mail,  coach,  296. 
Flying  stationers,  137  ff. 
Folk-lore :  see  Superstitions. 
Folk-medicine,  1 18  f. 
Food  at  inns,  279 f.,  286. 
Fool's  gold,  fool's  parsley,  etc.,  196. 

Footman, ,  75. 

Forman  :  see  Smith  and  Forman. 
Fortunatus,  chapbook,  139. 
Fortune  tellers,  108  f. 
Fowler,  James,  on  the  figures  of  the 

months,  etc.,  68. 
France,  salt-making  in,  133. 
Francis,    Convers,    D.D.,    biography 

of  Judge  John  Davis,  334. 
Franklin,        Benjamin,       and       Mr. 

Thomas,  if.;  on  labor  in  America, 

iSo ;    lightning    rods,    201  ;    Auto- 
biography, 316,  320. 
Free       will,      controversy     between 

Hobbes  and  Bramhall,  57. 


Freezing,  death  by,  167. 
Freight,  rates  for,  296. 
French  and  Indian  War,  321. 
Fresh  Pond,  Watertown,  Mass.,  9. 
Fruit  trees,  when  to  plant,  313. 

GADBURY,  JOHN,  and  his  almanac, 
44,  46;  poem  on  astrology,  314. 

Galenical  medicine,  controversy 
about,  118. 

Gambling,  95  f.,  271. 

Garden  sauce,  84  f. 

Gardening  in  Boston,  9. 

Garrett,  Edmund  H.,  on  the  Massa- 
chusetts seal,  360. 

Gawain  and  the  Green  Knight, 
romance  of,  355. 

Gentleman's  Magazine,  160,  308. 

Geography,  works  on,  315,  317,  320. 

German  folk-lore,  159. 

Germans  in  America,  283. 

Gevaudun,  Wild  Beast  of,  69 ff. 

Ghost  stories,  73. 

Giotto,  67. 

Giraldus  Cambrensis,  on  weasels,  120. 

Girdling  trees,  311. 

Girls'  schools,  229  f. 

Glade  Road,  Old,  304. 

Glanvil,  Rev.  Joseph,  on  witchcraft, 
i  ii. 

Glauber's  salts,  manufacture  of,  i34f. 

Goble,  Daniel,  executed,  374. 

Godfrey  of  Bulloigne,  chapbook,  139. 

God's  Revenge  against  Murder,  72. 

Gods,  Indian,  109. 

Goldi,  Anna,  alleged  witch,  114. 

Goodale,  Azubah,  4. 

Goodale,  Joseph,  4. 

Gookin,  Daniel,  337,  339  ff.  ;  as 
Indian  magistrate,  340  ff. ;  opinion 
of  Waban,  337 ;  Indian  letter  to, 

373- 

Goose  Lone  as  weather  sign,  205. 
Goose-summer,  196. 
Goshen,  Conn.,  123. 
Gossip,  characterized,  89,  90  f. 
Go-summer,  195. 
Gout,  moxa  as  cure  for,  187. 
Grafting  and  the  moon,  313. 
Grafton,  Mass.,  Indian  ruler  at,  342 ; 

Indian  proprietors  of,  371  f. 
Grain :    see    Corn  ;    English    grain ; 

Wheat. 

Grammar  schools,  226  f. 
Grammars,  230. 


388 


INDEX 


Grant,  Dr.  Andrew,  253  ff. 

Gray,  Edward,  publisher  at  Suffield, 
Conn.,  42. 

Greasy  heels,  disease  of  horses,  188. 

Green,  Samuel,  printer,  371. 

Green,  Dr.  Samuel  A.,  biography  of 
Mr.  Thomas,  15,  17  ;  Facsimile 
Reproductions,  233  ;  on  history  of 
Groton,  Mass.,  279,  345  ff. ;  on 
Indian  title  to  Groton,  345  ff. 

Green-corn  feast,  Indian,  377. 

Greene,  Gardiner,  his  estate  on  Pem- 
berton  Hill,  Boston,  9  ff. 

Greene,  Robert,tragedy  of  Alphonsus, 
120. 

Greenfield  (Mass.)  Gazette,  144. 

Grog,  90,  94  f.,  272  ff.,  282.  See 
Rum. 

Groton,  Mass.,  meetings  of  selectmen, 
278  f. ;  stage  from  Boston  to,  290  ; 
Indian  title  to,  345  ff. 

Groton  Herald,  278. 

Ground  ivy,  smoked  instead  of  to- 
bacco, 369. 

Groundsel,  the  herb,  188. 

Guinea  voyage,  horoscope  for,  39. 

Gunrashit,  Indian  sagamore,  369. 

Guns,  209,  244  ff . 

Guy  of  Warwick,  romance  and  chap- 
book,  137. 

HAIR,  cutting,  in  increase  of  the 
moon,  305. 

Halcyon  days,  193,  196. 

Hale,  Nathan,  on  railroads,  300. 

Hall,  Capt.  Basil,  on  railroads,  298. 

Hallet,  Jeremiah,  27  f. 

Hallivvell,  J.  O.,  on  the  Man  of  the 
Signs,  54. 

Hamilton,  Alexander,  126. 

Hancock,  John,  anecdote,  n  f. 

Harriott,  Lieut.  John,  on  American 
currency,  38 ;  on  barberries  and 
wheat,  331. 

Harris,  James,  Indian,  376. 

Harris,  Thaddeus  W.,  on  native  can- 
tharides,  187. 

Harrower,  John,  247. 

Hartford,  Conn.,  Bull's  tavern,  123. 

Harvard  College  (and  University), 
5,  235  ff . ;  commencement  at,  9 ; 
theses  for  A.  M.,  40  f.,  116  f. ;  first 
degree  of  LL.  D.,  200,  234  ff. ;  Pro- 
fessor Winthrop's  lectures,  200  ff. ; 
Peabody  Museum,  359  ff.  ;  Medical 


School,  359 ;  Museum  at,  in  eigh- 
teenth century,  308. 

Hassanamesitt,  or  Hassanamisco, 
(Grafton),  Mass.,  342,  371  f. 

Hasty  Pudding,  poem  by  Joel  Barlow, 
170  f. 

Hatch,  Israel,  his  coffee  house  in 
Boston,  287,  290 ;  his  stage  line 
from  Boston  to  Providence,  296. 

Haverhill,  Mass.,  stage  from  Boston 
to,  289. 

Hawkins,  John,  Indian,  375  f. 

Hayley,  Alderman,  10. 

Hayley,  Madam  Mary,  9  ff . ;  her  gar- 
den on  Pemberton  Hill,  9. 

Hayley,  William,  the  poet,  10. 

Haymaking,  haste  in,  88 ;  women  en- 
gaged in,  182  f. 

Hazard,  Ebenezer,  204. 

Head,  Richard,  his  Canting  Academy, 
96  f. 

Head,  removable,  belief  in,  354  f. 

Heckewelder,  Rev.  John,  anecdotes 
of  Indians,  353,  362. 

Helmont,  van,  on  Toad  and  Spider, 
104  f. ;  his  system  of  medicine, 
H7f. 

Hemlock,  smoked  instead  of  tobacco, 

369- 
Herbs,   curative,  planetary   relations 

of,  41 ;  sought  by  animals,  119  ff . ; 

plantain,  104  ff. ;  groundsel,  188. 
Herschel,   Sir  John,  and   the    Moon 

Hoax,  252  ff. 
Herschel,  Sir  William,  on  the  habita- 

bility  of  the  moon,  etc.,  251  f. 
Hexameters,  English, on  the  dominion 

of  the  moon  in  man's  body,  55. 
Hibernation  of  swallows,  167. 
High  Howder :  see  Howder. 
High  schools,  226  ff. 
Highwaymen  unknown,  286. 
Hihoudi,  alleged  Indian  warrant  by, 

334- 

Hildreth,  S.  P.,  129,  135. 
Hill,  B.  T.,  on  railroads,  301. 
Hill,  D.,  Boston  grocer,  9. 
Hired  man,  wages  of,  85  f.,  180. 
Historical  Magazine,  244. 
Historical    Society  of   Pennsylvania, 

191. 

Hive,  The,  318. 
Hoar,  John,  negotiates  for  release  of 

Mrs.  Rowlandson  and  others,  369. 
Hoaxes,  astronomical,  251  ff. 


INDEX 


389 


Hobbes,  Thomas,  controversy  with 
Bramhall  on  free  will,  57. 

Hodgson,  Adam,  on  respect  for  Wash- 
ington, 237  ;  on  the  sea  serpent, 
250 ;  on  innkeepers,  265  f. 

Hogkins,  John,  New  Hampshire 
Indian,  letters  from,  375  f. 

Hogs,  bewitching  of,  206  ;  when  to  be 
killed,  66  f.,  305  ff. 

Hogs'  bristles,  187  f. 

Holden,  Mass.,  4. 

Holidays,  Cotton  Mather  on,  175  f., 
177  f.  See  also  Christmas. 

Homer,  Rev.  Jonathan,  on  Waban 
and  his  descendants,  348. 

Homo  Signorum,  53  ff. 

Hopkins,  Matthew,  witch-finder,  113. 

Hopkins,  Rev.  Samuel,  on  the  Indian 
way  of  making  maple  sugar,  I24f. 

Hopkinton,  Mass.,  Indian  conveyance 

of,  349- 
Hornet   and    Peacock,    naval    battle, 

215. 
Horoscope  for  Guinea  voyage,  39  f. ; 

mock  horoscope,  41. 
Horse  races,  278. 
Horses,  cure  for  greasy  heels,  188; 

swapping,  272  ;  racing,  278;  care  of 

on  a  journey,  285. 
Hospitality,  280  ff. 
Hosts  :  see  Inns ;  Landlords. 
Hotels  in  America,  262  ff. 
Housatunnuk  Indians,  124  ff.,  377. 
How  Doe  Yee,  Indian,  334,  350. 
How,  Capt.  Samuel,  4. 
Howder,  Captain,  or  Hihoudi,  alleged 

Indian  warrant  by  him,  333  ff. 
Howe,  Major,  263. 
Ho  well,    James,   cured    by    Digby's 

powder,  116. 
Hubbard,    Rev.    William,   anecdotes 

of  Indians,  243  f.,  356,  365. 
Hiibner,  Israel,  on  astrology,  314. 
Hull,  Hannah,  14. 
Hull,  John,  mintmaster,  14. 
Humane      Society     (English),      163. 

See    also   Massachusetts    Humane 

Society. 

Humor,  exaggeration,  240  ff. 
Humorous    pieces   in   the    Farmer's 

Almanack,  26,  50  ff.,  78  ff.,  looff., 

139  ff.,    169,   179,   191,  212  ff.,  219, 

237,  240  f.,  247  f.,  274,  333. 
Hunt,  Freeman,  his  Anecdotes,  243. 
Hunting  stories,  240  ff. 


Huskings,  168  ff. ;  Admiral  James  on, 
168;  Mr.  Thomas  on,  168  ff. ;  Barlow 
on,  170;  Ames  on,  172;  Mather  on, 
172  f. 

Hutchinson,  Francis,  D.D.,  Essay  on 
Witchcraft,  113. 

Hutchinson,  Gov.  Thomas,  History 
of  Massachusetts,  316,  327 ;  on 
wheat  raising,  327  ;  house  at  Mil- 
ton, Mass.,  13. 

Hyde,  Sam,  Indian,  a  proverbial  liar, 
240  ff. 

Hyde,  Tom,  Indian,  243. 

Hymn  books,  318. 

Hyperbole,  humor  of,  240  ff. 

IDES  of  March,  90  f. 

Idols,  177  f. 

Ignis  fatuus,  196. 

Illuminated  calendars,  66. 

Illustrations  in  almanacs,  62 ff.  See 
also  Man  of  the  Signs. 

Importation  of  sugar,  127;  of  maple 
sugar  into  England,  124. 

Indian  Bible,  371 ;  Psalter,  371. 

Indian  corn  :  see  Corn. 

Indian  deeds,  344  ff.,  349,  371  f. 

Indian  harvest,  198. 

Indian  languages,  disappearance  of, 
376  ff. ;  remnants  of,  376  f. 

Indian  meal  and  bread,  286. 

Indian  summer,  191  ff. 

Indians,  liquor  sold  to,  75  f.,  350  f. ; 
preachers,  76 ;  jury  of  white  men 
and,  76;  schools  for,  76,  345,  351, 
367;  name  for  plantain,  104;  as 
devil-worshippers,  108  ff. ;  pow- 
wows, 108  ff . ;  connection  with 
Salem  witchcraft,  no;  method  of 
making  sugar,  124  ff . ;  method  of 
recovering  drowned  bodies,  160; 
Caughnawaga,  171  ;  Housatunnuk, 
1248.;  custom  as  to  red  ears  of 
corn,  171  f . ;  relation  to  Indian 
summer,  193  ff. ;  custom  of  burning 
over  the  woods,  195 ;  fickleness, 
195;  deceitfulness,  196,  241  ff. ; 
stupidity,  196;  mythology,  197  f.; 
anecdotes  of,  241  ff. ;  Capt.  Carver 
on,  321  ,  English  spoken  and 
written  by,  333  ff. ;  self-government 
in  Massachusetts,  337  ff. ;  costume, 
weapons,  etc.,  359  f.  See  also 
Hyde,  Sam  ;  Powwows  ;  Sassamon ; 
King  Philip's  War;  Natick. 


390 


INDEX 


Inland  communication,  285  ff. 

Innkeepers,  social  status  of,  263  ff., 
269  f. 

Inns  in  America,  262  ff.,  286;  on 
roads,  304  ff . 

Inoculation  for  smallpox,  14  f. 

Inquisitiveness  of  Americans,  268  f. 

Insect  pests,  179,  181,  186  f. ;  insects, 
useful,  186  f. 

Insurance  companies,  28,  150. 

Ipswich,  Mass.,  73  ;  meteorology  of, 
198;  landlord  at,  269  f.;  convey- 
ances, 285. 

Ireland,  weasels  in,  120. 

Irish  epic  saga,  355. 

JACKSON,  MASON,  his  Pictorial  Press, 

70. 
Jackson,  Dr.  Rowland,  on  Drowning, 

164  ff. 
Jackson,  William,  lecture  on  railroads, 

297  f. 
Jacobs,  Rev.    Peter,  on  Nanibozhu's 

smoking,  197  f. 
James,    Admiral     Bartholomew,     on 

huskings,    168;   on   New    England 

hospitality  and  inns,  281  ff. 
James,  Black,  Indian  constable,  340  f. 
Jeffrey,  Patrick,  12  ff. 
Jehoshaphat,   History  of,  chapbook, 

138. 

Jesuit  Relations,  109. 
Jesuits  on  Indian  witchcraft,  109  f. 
Jethro,  Indian,   370,   374;    executed, 

374- 

Jethro,  Peter,  Indian,  369  f. 
Jockey     Club,     by     Charles     Pigot, 

324  ff. 

John,  Indian  ruler,  342. 
John,    One-eyed,    Indian,    executed, 

374- 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  his  Rasselas 
sold  by  Mr.  Thomas,  319. 

Jones,  Rev.  Hugh,  on  Indian  char- 
acter, 196. 

Jones,  Rev.  Peter,  on  Nanibozhu  and 
Indian  summer,  197. 

Josiah,  Captain,  Indian,  340. 

Josselyn,  John,  on  plantain  in  his 
New  England's  Rarities,  104. 

Jouvency,  Father,  on  Indians  as 
devil-worshippers,  109. 

Jury  of  white  men  and  Indians,  76. 

Justice  of  the  Peace,  Indian,  T.T.~I  ff. 

•i  .  ' J  J-> 

Juvenal,  1 15. 


KALENDAR  of  Shepherdes,  53  f.,  66. 

Kendall,  E.  A.,  on  salt  manufacture, 

134  f.;   on  turkey-shooting  at  inns, 

275  *• 

Kennebec  River,  James's  tour  on,  281. 

Kidder,  Old,  240  f. 

Killingly,  Conn.,  247,  352  f. 

King  Philip  :  see  Philip. 

King  Philip's  War,  colonists  warned 
by  John  Sassamon,  76,  195;  by 
Waban,  337 ;  Talcott's  campaign, 
243 ;  anecdote  of  an  Indian,  243 ; 
troubles  at  Middleborough,  Mass., 
244  f. ;  praying  Indians  in,  343  f . ; 
incidents  of,  354  ff. 

Kingfishers  and  halcyon  days,  196  f. 

King's  inn,  Boston,  277,  279,  287  ff. 

Kitchen  gardens,  84  f. 

Kittell,  John,  369. 

Knight,    William,   killed   by    Susup, 

365- 
Kutquen,  Indian  sagamore,  369. 

LABOR,  changing  works,  179  ff. ;  dear 
in  America,  180;  wages,  180 ; 
women  in  the  hayfield,  182  f. 

Labors  of  the  months,  etc.,  63  ff. 

Lake  Erie,  Battle  of,  214. 

Lake  Superior,  197 ;  exploration  of, 
321. 

Lambert,  John,  on  stage-wagons,  294. 

Lancaster,  Mass.,  taken  by  Indians, 

374- 
Land,   clearing,  311  ff.,  328  ff . ;  sale 

of,  by  Indians,  357,  367  f. 
Langbourne,  Maj.,  of  Virginia,  225. 
Language,      English,     in      America, 

dialect  words,  etc.,  8  f .,  83  ff .,  87  ff  , 

96,  140,  157,    179,   igi   ff.,  206,  2tI2f., 

219,  226,  247  f.,  275,  293  f.,  327  f.; 

Indian  English,  333  ff. 
Languages,    Thomas    Paine   on   the 

study  of,  320.     See  English. 
Latin  schools,  226  ff. 
Lawrence,  Capt.  James,  U.  S.  N.,  215. 
Lawrence,  brig,  214. 
Laws,    fire,     155  f. ;    school,    223  f., 

226  ff. ;  establishing  Indian  courts, 

337  f- 

Lawyers,  good  and  bad,  98  ff. 
Lay  of  Eliduc,  120. 
Leach,  Emma,  dwarf,  68. 
Leap-year,  jests  about,  50  ff. 
Leaves  for  bedding,  80. 
Lechford,  Thomas,  on  lawyers,  98. 


INDEX 


391 


Lee,  Col.  Henry,  Memoirs  of  the 
War  in  the  Southern  Department, 
sold  by  Mr.  Thomas,  320. 

Leffingwell,  Prosper,  anecdote  of  his 
hunting  prowess,  247. 

Lejeune,  Father,  on  Indians  as  devil- 
worshippers,  109  f. 

Lendrum,  John,  History  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution,  320. 

Leominster,  Mass.,  stage  line  to,  288. 

Letters :  see  Postage ;  Correspond- 
ents. 

Leverett,  Gov.  John,  372  f. 

Leverett,  John,  J'resident  of  Harvard 
College,  349. 

Licenses  for  inns,  etc.,  262. 

Lighthouses,  163. 

Lightning  rods,  201  ff. 

Lilly,  William,  astrologer,  42. 

Linkboys,  in  London,  96. 

Liquor  sold  to  Indians,  75  f.,  350  f. 
See  Rum. 

Litchfield  County,  Conn.,  Indians  in, 
376  f. 

Literature,  315  ff. 

Little  Belt,  of  U.  S.  Navy,  215. 

Littlefield,  George  E.,  on  schools  and 
school-books,  230. 

Locke,  Richard  Adams,  author  of  the 
Moon  Hoax,  259. 

Locomotives,  early,  in  New  England, 
300. 

Long  Island,  329. 

Loo,  game  at  cards,  95  f. 

Loring,  Ensign,  of  Groton,  Mass.,  347. 

Lorraine,  witchcraft  in,  113  f. 

Lossing,  Benson  J.,  on  the  Scaticook 
Indians,  376  f. 

Lotteries,  90. 

Louisiana,  sugar  culture  in,  128. 

Lovelace,  Richard,  poem  on  Toad  and 
Spider,  105  ff. 

Lowell,  Mass.,  railroad  from  Boston 
to,  300  f . 

Lunacy  and  moon,  305. 

Lying,  humors  of,  240  ff. 

MAA.NEXIT,  341. 

M'Caulay,  Catherine,  portrait  of,  69. 

Macedonian,  man-of-war,  215. 

M'Murtry,  John,  244. 

M'Robert,  Patrick,  on  American  in- 

quisitiveness,    268 ;    on    sleighing, 

297. 
Madeira  wine,  286. 


Magistrates,  innkeepers  as,  279 ;  In- 
dian, 337  ff. 

Magnalia,  Cotton  Mather's,  75  f.,  108, 
no,  307. 

Magnetism  in  medicine,  117;  dis- 
cussed in  Harvard  theses  for  A.  M., 
117. 

Magunkaquog  (Hopkinton),  Mass., 
sale  of,  by  Indians,  349. 

Mahwee  (Mawehu),  Eunice,  376  f.  ; 
Gideon,  376. 

Maidenhead,  N.  J.,  inn  at,  277  f. 

Mail-stages,  287  ff. 

Maine,  Indians  in,  365  f. 

Malcolm  (Malcom),  Rev.  Alexander, 
of  Marblehead,  Mass.,  177. 

Maiden,  Mass.,  328. 

Maliompe,  Indian,  executed,  374. 

Man  of  the  Signs,  53  ff. 

Man-bats  in  the  moon,  256,  258. 

Manillas  on  the  signs  of  the  zodiac, 

Manitou  of  Indians,  109. 

Manners  of  landlords,  265  ff. 

Map  of  New  England,  299  ;  showing 
railroads,  302. 

Maple  sugar,  121  ff. ;  manufacture 
recommended  by  Mr.  Thomas,  121 
f . ;  Stiles  on,  122  f. ;  Belknap  on, 
123;  Rochefoucault  on,  123;  Wan- 
sey  on,  123  f. ;  manufactured  by  the 
Indians,  124  ff . ;  Dr.  Rush  on, 
126  f. 

Marblehead,  Mass.,  controversy  as  to 
Christmas  between  Barnard  and 
Pigot,  176  f . ;  Church  of  England 
at,  176  f. ;  stage  from  Boston  to, 
289. 

Marie  de  France,  Eliduc,  120. 

Marksmanship,  245  ff. 

Marlborough,  Mass.,  329  f. 

Marriage,  Indian  ceremony  of,  171  f. ; 
Indian  idea  of,  362. 

Martha's  Vineyard,  Mass.,  333. 

Martin,  G.  H.,  on  schools,  227. 

Martineau,  Harriet,  on  New  England 
schools,  216 f.;  on  the  Moon  Hoax 
and  New  England  education,  260 
f. ;  on  railroads,  301. 

Mary,  the  Virgin,  honors  paid  to,  177. 

Mason,    George    C.,   on    slave-trade, 

39  f- 
Mason,   Capt.    John,    Proprietor    of 

New  Hampshire,  374. 
Mason,  Jonathan,  14. 


392 


INDEX 


Mason,  Robert,  claimant  to  the  pro- 
prietorship of  New  Hampshire, 
374,  376. 

Massachusetts,  fire  insurance  in,  150; 
schools  and  school  laws,  223  ff. ; 
charter,  339 ;  Indian,  picture  of, 
359  f. ;  seal  and  coat  of  arms,  360. 

Massachusetts   Agricultural   Society, 

332. 

Massachusetts  Bay  Colony,  salt  man- 
ufacture, 132  f .  ;  Indian  warrant, 
333  ff. ;  management  of  Indians, 
337  ff . ;  seal  of,  360. 

Massachusetts  Bay  Company,  salt- 
making,  132;  founders  of,  338  f. ; 
charter  of,  339 ;  seal  of,  360. 

Massachusetts  Charitable  Fire  So- 
ciety, 146  ff. 

Massachusetts  Charitable  Mechanic 
Association,  297. 

Massachusetts  Historical  Society, 
models  of  Dearborn's  inventions 
deposited  with,  153;  Proceedings 
and  Collections,  passim. 

Massachusetts  Humane  Society, 
162  ff. 

Massachusetts  Magazine,  167,  368. 

Massachusetts  Mercury,  276. 

Massasoit,  358. 

Mather,  Cotton,  on  bleeding  of  corpse, 
75  f. ;  on  Indians  as  devil-worship- 
pers, 108  ff. ;  letter  from  John 
Winthrop,  F.  R.  S.,  to,  116;  on 
huskings,  172  f . ;  on  Christmas, 
173,  175  f . ;  on  Shrovetide  festivi- 
ties, 173,  177  f. ;  on  Tuisco,  177  f. ; 
on  neglect  of  schools,  224  ;  on  brain 
and  the  tides,  307 ;  his  Magnalia, 
75  f.,  108,  no,  307  ;  his  Advice  from 
the  Watch  Tower,  172  f.,  175  ff.,  224. 

Mather,  Increase,  on  the  ordeal  of 
the  bier,  76 ;  on  Indian  untrust- 
worthiness,  195 ;  on  comets,  199 
ff . ;  on  praying  for  rain,  364 ;  on 
Peter  Jethro,  370. 

Matthews,  Albert,  on  Indian  summer, 
191  ff. ;  on  Washington's  LL.  D., 
237- 

Matthews,  Daniel,  226. 

Mattoonus,  Indian  constable,  342. 

Mawehu :  see  Mahwee. 

May  training,  208  ff. 

Medford,  Mass.,  stage  from  Boston 
to,  289. 

Medical  Repository,  192. 


Medicine  and  astrology,  41,  61  ;  and 
the  signs  of  the  zodiac,  53  ff. ; 
quackery,  100  f. ;  sympathetic  med- 
icine, 1 1 5  ff. 

Medicine  men,  Indian,  108  ff.  See 
Powwows. 

Melish,  John,  on  stagecoaches,  292, 
296. 

Mendez,  Antonio,  manufacturer  of 
sugar  in  Louisiana,  128. 

Meriam,  R.  N.,  on  early  schools,  231. 

Merlinus  Liberatus,  Partridge's  al- 
manac, 43  f. 

Mermaids,  250. 

Merrimac  River,  375. 

Meteorology,  191  ff.,  198.  See  also 
Weather. 

Metropolitan  Water  Works,  16. 

Middleborough,  Mass.,  76. 

Military  duty,  208  ff. ;  fines,  209  ff. 

Militia,  208  ff. ;  captain,  humorous 
anecdote,  212  f. 

Mill,  James,  216. 

Millers,  dishonesty  of,  101  f. 

Milton,  John,  109,  115,  348. 

Milton,  Mass.,  Hutchinson  house  at, 
13 ;  stage  from  Boston  to,  289. 

Ministers,  Indian,  340  ff.  See  also 
Sermons. 

Modern  languages,  study  of,  319  f. 

Mohawks,  375. 

Mohegan,  Conn.,  Indians  there,  377. 

Mohegans,  243  f. 

Molasses,  123;  from  maple  sap,  125; 
from  apples,  129;  from  cornstalks, 
129. 

Mommsen,  Theodor,  79. 

Money,  different  kinds  in  circulation, 
37  ;  table  of,  37  ;  standards  in  differ- 
ent States,  38. 

Monopolies,  132. 

Months,  figures  for  the,  62  ff. 

Moon  and  tides,  28 ;  influence  on 
man's  body,  53  ff. ;  new  moon  seen 
over  left  shoulder,  206;  influence  of 
moon  on  vegetation,  etc.,  305  ff. 

Moon  Hoax,  251  ff. 

Moon-cursers,  95  ff. 

Moon's  Man,  53  ff. 

Moore,  Francis,  his  almanac,  46  f. 

Moore,  Dr.  John,  father  of  Sir  John, 
319 ;  his  Zeluco,  319  ;  Byron  on,  319. 

Moose,  exhibited  in  Boston,  277. 

Moravian  brethren,  female  seminary 
of,  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  230. 


INDEX 


393 


More,  Henry,  D.  D.,  on   witchcraft, 

in. 
Morison,  Fynes,    on     English    inns, 

266  ff. 
Morse,  Jedediah,  D.  D.,  his  school  at 

New  Haven,  230  ;  his  geographies, 

315,317,320. 
Morse,     Jonathan,    town     clerk     of 

Groton,  Mass.,  347. 
Morse,  Lucy  (Eager),  3. 
Morton,    Nathaniel,   New    England's 

Memorial,  327,  333  ;  on  wheat  crop 

in  seventeenth  century,  327. 
Mosely,     Capt.     Samuel,     in     King 

Philip's  War,  354. 
Mosquitoes,  Washington  on,  248  f. ; 

method  of  destroying,  249. 
Mountain  Piper,  chapbook,  137. 
Mouse  and  snake,  fight  between,  108. 
Mowatt,   Capt.    Henry,   burns    Port- 
land, Me.,  309. 

Mowing  bushes,  time  for,  306,  311  ff. 
Moxa,  cure  for  gout,  187. 
Munchausen  stories,  240  ff. 
Munson,  Caleb,  164. 
Murder,  in  literature,  71  ;  detection  of, 

71    ff.  ;    Chaucer    on,   72;    famous 

murders  in   New  England,  72  ff. ; 

disclosed     by    apparition,     73    f. ; 

bleeding  of  corpse  (the    ordeal   of 

the  bier),  74  ff. 
Muscovado  sugar,  123. 
Museo  Borbonico,  78. 
Music,  179. 

Muskingum  River,  route  to,  304. 
Muttamakoog,  Jacob,  Indian,  373. 
Muttamuck,  Indian,  372. 
Myth  of  Arachne,    106  f. ;  of   Nani- 

bozhu,  197  f. 

NACHSOMMER,  194. 

Nahant,  Mass.,  sea  serpent,  249  f. 

Nails,  parings  of,  in  medicine,  117. 

Name,  magic  of  the,  159. 

Nanibozhu,  197  f. 

Nanuntenoo  (Canonchet),  anecdote 
of,  356. 

Naples  Museum,  Latin  farmer's  cal- 
endar in,  78. 

Narragansetts,  243. 

Natick,  Mass.,  founded  by  John 
Eliot,  336 ;  early  government  of, 
337  ff. ;  records  of,  346  f. 

Natick  Indians,  335  ff. ;  conversion 
of,  335  ff. ;  town  records,  346  ff. ; 


specimen    of  their   language,   346 ; 

committee  for  sale  of  land,  349;  on 

Deer  Island,  368. 
Natick  language,  346,  357. 
Navy,  U.  b.,  in  War  of  1812,  213  ff. 
Negro  servants,  84,  286,  291. 
Nehemiah,  Isaac,  Indian,  suicide  of, 

349  f- 

Nepanet,  Indian,  368. 

Nepennomp,  Tom,  Indian,  371. 

Neptune,  John,  Indian,  of  Maine,  365  ; 
speech  by,  366. 

New  Bedford,  Mass.,  stage  from 
Boston  to,  289 ;  books  published 
at,  317- 

Newbery,  Berks,  160. 

Newbury,  Mass.,  fined  for  not  main- 
taining an  ordinary,  262. 

Newburyport,  Mass.,  stage  from  Bos- 
ton to,  289 ;  books  published  at, 

3'7- 

New  England  Almanack,  58,  60. 

New  England  Chronicle,  237. 

New  England  Journal,  73. 

New-England's  Crisis,  poem  by  Ben- 
jamin Tompson,  356  ff. 

New  Hampshire  Historical  Society, 
222. 

New  Hampshire  Indians,  374  ff. 

New  Jersey,  277  f. 

New  York,  boarding  house  in,  263  ; 
Tammany  Hall,  a  hotel,  279  f.  ; 
stage  lines  from  Boston  to,  287  f. 

New  York  Constellation,  212. 

New  York  Evening  Post,  249. 

New  York  Sun,  62  ;  founded  by  B. 
H.  Day,  259;  fiftieth  anniversary 
of,  259;  the  Moon  Hoax,  252  ff. 

New  Zealanders,  picture  of,  in  Bicker- 
staff's  almanac,  69. 

Newspapers,  8  f.,  62,  70,  73,87,  164, 
212,  222,  235,  237,  238,  249  f.,  252  ff., 
276  f.,  296  f.,  300. 

Newton,  Mass.,  348 ;  railroad  from 
Boston  to,  300 ;  Eliot  Terrace, 
336- 

Niagara,  journey  from  Boston  to,  in 
1796,  294  f. 

Niagara,  brig,  214. 

Nipmuck  Indians,  341  f. 

Nonantum,  Mass.,  Eliot's  sermon  to 
the  Indians  at,  335  f. 

Norcross,  O.,  correspondent  of  the 
Almanac,  27  f. 

Norfolk,  Conn.,  maple  sugar  in,  122. 


394 


INDEX 


Norkott,  Johan,  murder  of,  77  ;  bleed- 
ing of  corpse,  77. 

Northampton,  Mass.,  stagecoach,  293. 
Northwest  Passage,  321. 
Norwich,  Conn.,  363  ff.,  377. 
Notes  and  Queries,  160  f. 
Nursery  rhymes,  43. 

OBSCOW    (Obscho),  Jonas,    Indian, 

347  f- 

Offscow,  Jeremiah,  Indian,  334  f. 
Ohio  River,  road  from  the  Atlantic 

to,  304. 

Ojibways,  197,  359. 
Old  Colony  :  see   Plymouth  Colony. 
Old  Colony  Memorial,  222. 
Old  South  Church,  Boston,  201. 
Oldenburg,  Henry,  Secretary  of  the 

Royal  Society,  132. 
Oldtown,  Maine,  Indians  at,  365  f. 
Oliver,  Daniel,  349. 
Oliver,  Thomas,  349. 
Oneida  Indians,  mission  to,  294. 
Onondaga,  N.  Y.,  salt  springs,  135. 
Onset  Bay,  Mass.,  334. 
Orang-outang,  picture  of,  69. 
Orcutt,     Samuel,     on      Connecticut 

Indians,  377. 
Ordeal  of  the  bier,  74  ff . 
Ordinary,  required  by  law,  262. 
Osborne,  Ruth,  114. 
Otis,  Col.  James,  334. 
Ovid,  106,  196,  318. 

PACIFIC  coast,  Drake  on,  321  ; 
Carver's  effort  to  reach,  321. 

Packets,  295  f. 

Page,  John,  347. 

Pahtahsega,  Indian,  197. 

Paine,  Robert  Treat,  Jr.,  his  odes, 
149. 

Paine,  Thomas,  149 ;  his  Age  of 
Reason,  319  f. ;  on  the  study  of 
languages  and  science,  319  f. 

Pakachoog,  341. 

Pakaskoag,  Indian,  372. 

Palatinate,  folk-lore  of  the,  159. 

Pallas  and  Arachne,  io6f. 

Palmistry,  42. 

Pancake  Tuesday,  178. 

Panniers,  285. 

Pantagrueline  Prognostication,  Rabe- 
lais, 48. 

Panther,  innkeeper,  304. 

Paracelsus,  61. 


Parish,  John,  347. 

Parker,  Capt.,  hospitality  of,  281  ff. 

Parris,     Rev.     Samuel,     of     Salem, 

Mass.,    his     children     begin     the 

witchcraft  agitation,  112. 
Parsnips,  when  to  gather,  91  f. 
Parthenius,   murder    committed   by, 

73- 
Partridge,    John,    and   his    almanac, 

43  ff. ;  Swift's  satire  on,  44  ff. 
Patagonian  giants,  picture  of,  69. 
Path    Valley,    on  the     Ohio    Road, 

3°4- 

Patterson's  tavern,  Boston,  289. 
Peabody,  Rev.  Ebenezer,  praying  for 

rain,  363. 
Peabody     Museum  :     see     Harvard 

University. 

Peacock  and  Hornet,  sea  fight,  215. 
Peddlers,     Dwight    on,     144  f.;    of 

books,  137  ff. 
Pemberton     Hill     and     Pemberton 

Square,  Boston,  9,  14. 
Pennahannit,  Indian,  340. 
Pennsylvania,     General     Assembly, 

publishes    essay   on    salt-making, 

J33- 

Pennsylvania  Evening  Post,  297. 

Pennsylvania  Magazine,  133. 

Pennsylvania  Road,  old,  304. 

Pentreath,  Dolly,  377. 

Pequots,  243,  377. 

Perley,  Sidney,  on  Ames  murder 
and  ordeal  of  the  bier,  74. 

Perry,  Michael,  Boston  bookseller, 
his  inventory,  139. 

Perry,  Commodore  O.  H.,  214 ; 
Perry's  Victory,  214. 

Perry's  Spelling  Book,  7. 

Petavit  (Petuhanit),  Indian  ruler, 
342- 

Petrus  de  Dacia,  astronomer,  54. 

Pettifoggers,  98  ff. 

Phelps,  Capt.  John,  4. 

Philadelphia,  projects  for  sugar- 
making,  128;  stage  line  to  Pitts- 
burg,  296. 

Philip,  King,  Indian  sachem,  76,  337, 
343  f.,  373;  Mrs.  Rowlandson's  in- 
terview with,  155,  370  ;  speech  of, 
357  f. ;  portrait  of,  758  f.  ;  docu- 
ments of,  367  f.  See  King  Philip's 
War. 

Philosophical  Transactions :  see 
Royal  Society. 


INDEX 


395 


Physicians,  quack,  loof.  See  also 
Medicine. 

Physiognomy,  42. 

Pianofortes,  179. 

Pickering,  Timothy,  6n  sweet-apple 
molasses,  129. 

Picture  of  a  Drunkard,  verses,  32. 

Pigot,  Charles,  his  Jockey  Club, 
324  ff. 

Pigot,  Rev.  George,  controversy 
with  Barnard  as  to  Christmas, 
176  f. 

Pigs,  bewitching  of,  206;  when  to  be 
killed,  66  f . ,  305  ff. 

Pipes,  370. 

Pippin,  Little   King,  chapbook,  137. 

Pitcairn,  John,  Criminal  Trials,  77. 

Plague,  ii7ff. ;  in  London,  n8f. ; 
dissection  of  a  pestilential  body, 
118;  toad  as  cure  for,  118;  por- 
tended by  comet,  200. 

Plantain,  curative,  104  ff.;  virtues 
known  to  toad,  104 ff.;  not  native 
to  America,  104 ,  Indian  name, 
104. 

Planting,  time  of  moon  for,  306,  309. 

Plants,  astrological  time  to  gather, 
314;  plantain,  104  ff.;  groundsel, 
1 88. 

Playing  cards,  95  f.,  139. 

Plymouth,  Mass.,  trial  of  Indians 
for  murder,  76 ;  Christmas  at,  in 
1621,  i73f. ;  stage  from  Boston 
to,  288  f. 

Plymouth  Colony,  salt  manufacture, 
131  f . ;  tradition  of  Indian  war- 
rant, 333  ff. ,  Indian  constables  in, 
350 ;  letter  from  King  Philip  to 
Gov.  Prince,  367. 

Poetry,  32,  51  f.,  55,  58,  60,  72,  140  f., 
149,  161,  i7of.,  203,  205,  233,  237, 
318;  contributed  to  the  Almanac, 
28  ff. 

Poets,  English,  read  in  New  Eng- 
land, 318. 

Poison  :  see  Venom. 

Poisoning  in  Rome,  115. 

Poland,  witchcraft  in,  1 14. 

Polar  bear,  exhibited  in  Boston,  277. 

Politicians,  country,  advice  to,  237. 

Pollard's  Tavern,  Boston,  277. 

Pond,  Edward,  his  almanac,  58;  on 
the  Man  of  the  Signs,  58. 

Ponnakpukun,  Indian,  373. 

Poor    Robin's    Almanac,   burlesque 


on  astrology,  40,  49;  mock  horo- 
scope, 40  f. ;  mock  prophecies,  49  ; 
on  the  Man  of  the  Signs,  58. 

Poor  Will's  Almanac,  59. 

Population  of  cities,  20. 

Pork,  effect  of  the  moon  on,  305  ff. 

Porter,  David,  commander  of  the 
Essex  in  the  War  of  1812,  215. 

Portland,  Me.,  spinning  bee  at,  181  f. ; 
price  of  provisions  in  1791,  281  ; 
burning  of,  in  1775,  309. 

Portrait  of  R.  B.  Thomas,  16;  of 
King  Philip,  358  f. 

Portsmouth,  N.  H.,  stage  line  to, 
288. 

Postage  in  America,  rates  of,  at  dif- 
ferent times,  33  ff. 

Potato  coffee,  184  f. ;  potato  flies, 
i86f. 

Pottoquam  (Botogkum,  Boshokum), 
Simon,  Indian  scribe,  372  f.,  374  f. 

Pownalborough,  Me.,  tavern  at,  283. 

Powwows  or  Indian  wizards,  108  ff., 
336,  341 ,  363  f. 

Praying  Indians,  336  ff. 

Preachers,  canting,  100;  preachers 
and  schools,  223  f. ;  Indian,  340  ff. 
See  also  Sermons. 

Predictions  in  Partridge's  almanac, 
43  f. ;  Swift's,  under  the  name  of 
Bickerstaff,  45 ;  Zadkiel's  and 
Raphael's,  with  fulfilments,  47  f . ; 
burlesque,  48  f.,  50  ff. ;  Wood- 
ward's caution  about,  49  f. 

Present  State  of  New-England,  354  f. 

President,  frigate,  215. 

Prices  of  almanacs,  46  ;  of  provisions, 
281  f.  See  also  Fares ;  Inns ; 
Labor. 

Priest,  William,  description  of  a  fire 
in  Boston,  1796,  150;  on  American 
marksmen,  246. 

Priming  wire,  209. 

Prince,  Professor  J.  Dyneley,  on  New 
England  Indian  languages,  376  f. 

Prince,  Gov.  Thomas,  letter  from 
King  Philip,  367. 

Prince,  Rev.  Thomas,  on  earthquakes 
and  lightning  rods,  201  f. 

Printer,  Ami,  372  ;  Ami,  Jr.,  372. 

Printer,  James,  Indian,  371;  appren- 
ticed to  Samuel  Green,  371  ;  joins 
the  enemy,  371  ;  assists  Eliot  in 
Indian  Bible,  371  ;  printer  of  In- 
dian Psalter,  371  ;  writes  a  letter 


396 


INDEX 


for  Indians,  371 ;  his  descendants, 

37i  f- 

Printer,  Moses,  372. 
Printers,  7,  144,  317,  322,  371. 
Privateers,  3. 

Probate  courts  at  taverns,  278. 
Proctor,  R.  A.,  on  the  Moon  Hoax, 

259- 

Progress  in  America,  17,  19  ff. 

Prophecies :  see  Predictions. 

Proverbs,  83,  87,  88,  99,  100,  121,  122, 
"55.  !79.  19S>  222>  241,  266,  275, 
276. 

Providence,  R.  I.,  stage  from  Boston 
to,  287  f.,  296;  railroad,  300. 

Providences,  special,  200  ff. 

Pruning,  313. 

Psalter,  Indian,  371. 

Ptolemy,  the  astronomer,  55. 

Public  business  transacted  at  inns, 
278  f. 

Pumkamun,  Indian,  373. 

Pump-engine,  Dearborn's,  152. 

Putnam,  Professor  F.  W.,  reconstruc- 
tion of  a  Massachusetts  Indian, 

359  f- 
Putnam,  Rufus,  his  early  education, 

225  f. 
Pynson,  John,  53. 

QUACKS,  100  f. 

Quanohit,  Indian  sagamore,  369. 

Quarll,  Philip,  adventures  of,  322  f. 

Quebec,  road  to,  304. 

Queen  of  Heaven,  177. 

Quincy,  Josiah,  on  railroads,  302. 

Quincy,  Mass.,  stage  from  Boston  to, 
290;  railroad  from  quarry  to  tide- 
water, 297. 

RABELAIS,  Pantagrueline  Prognosti- 
cation, 48. 

Racing,  278. 

Radcliffe,  Mrs.  Ann,  her  books  sold 
by  Mr.  Thomas,  318  f. 

Railroads  in  New  England,  297  ff. ; 
early  agitation  for,  297  f. ;  opposi- 
tion to,  298  f.,  302 ;  experiments, 
297  f . ;  establishment  of,  300;  map 
of,  302 ;  table  of,  in  1844,  303 ; 
coaches  and  cars,  301. 

Rain,  praying  for,  363  ff. 

Ramsay,  David,  M.  D.,  History  of  the 
American  Revolution,  315. 

Raphael's  almanac,  astrological,  47. 


Rasselas,  sold  by  Mr.  Thomas,  319. 

Rats,  letter  to,  206. 

Ravens  Almanacke,  by  Dekker,  56; 
Man  of  the  Signs  in,  56. 

Rawson,  Rev.  Grindal,  on  neglect  of 
schools,  224. 

Reading,  books  recommended  for, 
3i5ff. ;  books  sold  by  R.  B.  Thomas, 
3i8  fT. 

Receipts,  184  f.,  188  f.,  249. 

Red  ears  of  corn,  at  huskings,  168 ; 
supposed  Indian  symbolism  re- 
garding, 171  f. 

Religious  Courtship,  Defoe's,  319. 

Remedies:  see  Cures  ;  Gout;  Greasy 
heels. 

Remy  (Remigius),  Nicholas,  judge  in 
witchcraft  cases  in  Lorraine,  113; 
his  Daemonolatreia,  113. 

Rendon,  intendant  of  Louisiana,  128. 

Reprints,  American,  of  standard  liter- 
ature, etc.,  317,  322. 

Respiration,  artificial,  162  f . ;  under 
water,  167. 

Revere,  Paul,  portrait  of  King  Philip, 

358  £• 

Revolutionary  War,  scarcity  of  im- 
ported articles  during,  126  ;  scarcity 
of  salt  during,  133  f. ;  Rufus  Put- 
nam in  the,  225 ;  Washington  in 
the,  235  ff . ;  foreign  visitors  after 
the,  202  f. ;  officers  in  the,  as  inn- 
keepers, 263  f. ;  the  Cincinnati, 
263  ;  Ramsay's  History  of  the,  rec- 
ommended by  Mr.  Thomas,  315  ; 
Col.  Lee's  Memoirs,  320 ;  Col. 
Tarleton,  325  f. 

Rhode  Island,  duel  between  toad  and 
spider  in,  104. 

Ricketson,  Shadrach,  M.  D.,  on  In- 
dian summer,  192. 

Riddles,  27  ff. 

Riding  horseback,  285  f. 

Ring  finger,  77. 

Rise,  Columbia,  song  by  R.  T.  Paine, 
149. 

Rittel's  tavern,  Pownal  borough, 
Maine,  283. 

River  travel,  304. 

Roads,  285  ff. ;  table  of,  303  ff. 

Robbers  unknown,  286. 

Robie,  Thomas,  his  almanac,  60. 

Robin,  Indian  ruler,  342. 

Robinson  Crusoe,  137,  319. 

Rochefoucault-Liancourt,  due   de   la, 


INDEX 


397 


on  maple  sugar,  123  ;  on  Connecti- 

cut schools,  227  f.  ;  at  an  inn,  277  f. 
Rockwell,  Solomon,  on  warm    ashes 

in  resuscitation  of  drowned,  164  f. 
Romances,  137,  318  f. 
Rome,    farmer's   calendar   at,   78   f.  ; 

secret  name  of,  159;  destruction  of, 

200  ;  Roman  agriculture,  So. 
Roskoff,  Gustav,  Geschichte  des  Teu- 

fels,  114. 
Rowlandson,    Mrs.    Mary,    captivity 

among  Indians,  narrative,  368  ff  .  ; 

interview   with    King   Philip,    155, 

370  ;  habit  of  smoking,  369  f. 
Roxbury,   Mass.,  stage  from   Boston 

to,  290. 
Royal  Society,  115,  124,  132,  166  f., 

252,  3°7- 

Rubeta,  poisonous  toad,  115. 
Ruggles,  Col.  Timothy,  commanding 

Worcester    County    Regiment    in 

1757,  4- 

Rulers,  Indian,  337  ff. 
Rum,  125,  272  ff.,  286,  315;  made  of 

maple  sap,  125.     See  Grog. 
Rumor,  characterized,  87,  90  f. 
Rush,  Benjamin,    M.    D.,   on   maple 

sugar,  126  ff.  ;  on  slavery,  127;  on 

the  Pennsylvania  climate,  195. 
Ryall  Side,  Beverly,  Mass.,  salt-works 

at,  132. 
Rye,   effect   of  barberry  bushes   on. 


SADDLE  horses,  285  f. 

Saddlebags,  285. 

Sadducismus  Triumphatus,  by  Glan- 

vil,  in. 

Sadler,  Capt.  John,  225  f. 
Sailors'  superstitions,  40. 
St.  Aibans,  Vt..  stage,  294. 
St.    Anthony,    Falls   of,   reached   by- 

John  Carver,  321. 
St.  James's  Chronicle,  70. 
St.  Josaphat,  138. 
St.  Luke's  Summer,  194. 
St.  Martin's  summer,  192  f. 
Salem,    Mass.,    witchcraft,    no  ff.  ; 

stage  from  Boston  to,  289  f  .  ;  books 

published  at,  317. 
Salt,  manufacture  of.  129  ff  .  ;  scarc- 

ity  of,   in    Revolution,    134;   from 

Onondaga    springs,    135;    used   to 

extinguish  fire  in    chimneys,    148; 

in  glazing  chimneys,  148. 


Sam  Sachem,  369,  372  ff. ;  executed, 

374- 

Sampson,  Indian  teacher,  341. 

Sampson,  Indian,  Philip's  agent,  368. 

Sandford  and  Merton,  by  Thomas 
Day,  319. 

Sap:  see  Maple  Sugar. 

Sassamon,  John,  King  Philip's  sec- 
retary, 195,  367;  reports  intended 
hostilities,  76,  195;  murder  of,  76; 
letter  ascribed  to,  367  f . 

Savannah,  Ga.,  road  to,  304. 

Scaticook  or  Skaghticoke  Indians, 
3/6  f- 

Schenectady,  N.  Y.,  269. 

School-books,  230. 

Schools  and  schoolmasters,  6,  216  ff. , 
boarding  round,  6 ;  Indian,  76,  345, 

351- 
Science,  study  of,  Thomas  Paine  on, 

3!9f- 

Scions  and  the  moon,  313. 

Scioto  Company,  171. 

Scolding,  91. 

Scoring  up  charges,  82. 

Scotland,  witchcraft  in,  113. 

Scribner's  Monthly,  376. 

Sea  serpent,  off  Nahant,  Mass.,  249  f. 

Seal  of  Massachusetts,  360. 

Seals,  mystery  of,  314. 

Sears,  Capt.  John,  salt-maker,  134. 

Sears,  Richard,  salt-maker,  134. 

Seasons,  labors  of  the,  etc.,  63  ff. 

Seby,  Sarah,  348. 

Seccombe,  Thomas,  113. 

Sedgwick,  Theodore,  his  Hints  to  my 
Countrymen,  142. 

Segars :  see  Cigars. 

Selectmen  meet  at  taverns,  278  f. 

Sermons,  17,  no,  172  f.,  175  ff.,  199, 
201  ff.,  204,  211,  222,  223  f.,  319, 
336;  burlesque, in  favor  of  thieves, 
26. 

Service,  domestic,  84,  270  f.,  281,  283, 
286,  291. 

Seven  Sages,  138  f. 

Seven  Wise  Masters,  137  ff. 

Sewall,  Hannah  (Hull),  14. 

Sewall,  Joseph,  175. 

Sewall,  Judith,  14. 

Sewall,  Samuel,  his  estate  on  Pem- 
berton  Hill,  14 ;  his  salt-works  at 
Boston  Neck,  133;  his  house  on 
fire,  I53f.;  his  opinion  of  Christ- 
mas, 175;  negotiations  for  purchase 


398 


INDEX 


of    Hopkinton,    Mass.,  348  f. ;   on 
suicide   of    an   Indian,   349  f. ;   on 
execution  of  Sagamore  Sam,  374. 
Shakspere,  59,  107,  115,  143,  193,  274, 

SOS- 
Shaw,  H.  W. :  see  Billings,  Josh. 

Shepard,  Rev.  Thomas,  337  f. 

Shingles,  150. 

Shoe,  ass's,  206. 

Shoemaker  loo,  95  f. 

Shoes,  making,  93 ;  old,  used  to  scare 
crows.  189  f. ;  going  without,  222. 

Shoshanim :  see  Sam  Sachem. 

Showmen,  innkeepers  as,  276  f. 

Shrewsbury,  Mass.,  4;  Shrewsbury 
leg,  4  f. 

Shrove  Tuesday  cakes  and  sports, 
177  ff.;  Tuisco,  177  ff . ;  pancakes, 
177  f. ;  throwing  at  the  cock,  177  f. ; 
Mather  on,  177  ff. 

Sign  of  tavern,  264  f. 

Signs  of  zodiac,  79 ;  the  Anatomy  and, 
53  ff. ;  figures  of,  62  ff. ;  connec- 
tion with  vegetation,  306,  311  ff. 

Simms,  Jeptha  R.,  anecdote  of  Gen. 
Eaton,  238  f. 

Simon ds,  240  f. 

Skating,  63  f. 

Skylark,  The,  songbook,  318. 

Slander,  89,  90  f. 

Slave-trade  in  New  England,  39 ;  as- 
trology in,  39  f. 

Slavery,  121  f.,  127  f. 

Sleighs  and  sleigh-riding,  297. 

Smallpox  in  Boston,  1792,  14;  inocu- 
lation for,  15. 

Smith,  Charlotte,  her  novels,  319. 

Smith,  Col.  James,  his  captivity 
among  the  Indians,  171. 

Smith,  C.  C.,  on  scarcity  of  salt  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  134. 

Smith  and  Forman's  Almanac,  61. 

Smoking,  88,  90,  147,  154  ff.,  220  f . ; 
by  women  and  children,  147,  155, 
369  f . ;  in  the  streets,  155  f. ;  of 
Nanibozhu,  197  f. ;  Indian  substi- 
tutes for  tobacco,  369. 

Smollett's  novels,  318. 

Smut  in  wheat,  306. 

Smutty  ears  of  corn,  at  huskings, 
169  f. 

Smyth,  J.  F.  U.,  on  Gen.  Jethro  Sum- 
ner  and  other  innkeepers,  263  f. 

Snake  and  mouse,  fight  between,  108 ; 
cut  in  pieces,  joins  again,  120; 


striped,  useful  in  gardens,  119;  In- 
dian god  in  form  of,  108;  resuscita- 
tion of  frozen,  167. 

Snow,  soap  made  of,  188  f. ;  clearing 
railway  tracks  of,  301. 

Soap  made  of  snow,  188  f. 

Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Christian 
Knowledge,  46. 

Society  for  Propagating  Christian 
Knowledge,  294. 

Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel, 

154- 

Soldan,  W.  G.,  Geschichte  der  Hex- 
enprozesse,  114. 

Solomon,  Indian  ruler,  342. 

Sommer,  H.  Oskar,  54. 

Songbooks,  318. 

Sorcery  :  see  Witchcraft. 

South  African  War,  47. 

Southborough,  Mass.,  330. 

Southey,  Robert,  on  Beloe,  10;  his 
Madoc,  170. 

Sowing,  significance  of  the  moon  for, 
306. 

Spain,  witchcraft  in,  114. 

Spalding,  Jacob,  adventure  with  In- 
dians, 352  f. 

Spanish  flies,  substitute  for,  186  f. 

Speck,  Frank  G.,  on  New  England 
Indian  languages,  376  f. 

Speen,  James,  Indian  minister,  342. 

Spencer,  Mass.,  5. 

Spicier,  duel  with  toad,  104  ff. ;  venom 
of,  104  ff.,  119;  remedy  for  ague, 
119. 

Spinning,  181  f. ;  bees,  181  f. 

Spofford's  American  Magazine,  189. 

Sports :  see  Amusements. 

Sprague,  H.  H.,  149  f.,  153. 

Sprague,  P.,  on  barberry  bushes,  328  f. 

Squaring  accounts,  316. 

Stafford,  of  Tiverton,  a  conjuror,  40. 

Stagecoaches,  279 ;  stage  lines,  285 
ff. ;  list  of,  287  ff. ;  coaches  de- 
scribed, 291  ff. 

Stage  routes,  285  ff. 

Stage-wagons,  293  f. 

Stamp  duty  on  almanacs,  46. 

Stanhope,  Philip,  318. 

Stanton,  Robert,  356. 

Star  Spangled  Banner,  149. 

State  House,  Old,  Boston,  stages  start 
from,  290. 

Stationers'  Company,  publishers  of 
almanacs,  46  f. 


INDEX 


399 


Sterling,  Mass.,  4 ;  books  for  sale  at, 
137  f.,  318  ff. 

Stern,  assistant  of  Hopkins  the  witch- 
finder.  113. 

Sterne,  Laurence,  his  Sentimental 
Journey  sold  by  Mr.  Thomas,  318. 

Stiles,  Ezra,  D.  D.,  President  of  Yale 
College,  sermon  on  the  U.  S.  in 
17&3>  17  >  opinion  of  English  lan- 
guage, 17  ;  on  astrology,  etc.,  in 
New  England,  40 ;  on  Indian  witch- 
craft, etc.,  1 08  f.  ;  on  maple  sugar, 
122  f. 

Stinginess,  87,  223. 

Stocks,  as  punishment,  351. 

Stool-ball,  at  Plymouth,  174. 

Street,  smoking  in  the,  155  f. 

Stubbs,  W.  C.,  on  history  of  sugar 
cane  in  Louisiana,  128. 

Sudbury,  Mass.,  360. 

Suffield,  Conn.,  book  published  at, 
42  ,  peddlers,  144  f. 

Sugar,  use  and  importation  of,  and 
substitutes  for,  121  ff.  See  Maple 
sugar. 

Suicide  of  an  Indian,  349  f. 

Sumner,  Gen.  Jethro,  described,  263  f. 

Sun,  influence  on  man's  body,  53  f.  ; 
spots  on  the,  191,  198. 

Sun,  New  York,  on  the  Almanac,  62  ; 
the  Moon  Hoax,  252  ff. 

Sun  Tavern,  at  Dedham,  Mass.,  264  f. 

Sunday,  travel  forbidden  on,  238  f. ; 
reading  restricted  on,  317. 

Superstitions  and  folk-lore,  Mr. 
Thomas  on,  205  ff.  See  also  As- 
trology ;  Blood ;  Cat ;  Comets  ; 
Corpse ;  Dark  Day ;  Dreams ; 
Drowning ;  Earthquakes  ;  Eclipses  ; 
Folk-medicine  ;  Fortune  tellers ; 
Ghosts  ;  Head  ;  Hogs  ;  Magnetism  ; 
Man  of  the  Signs  ;  Moon  ;  Murder  ; 
Pork ;  Shrovetide ;  Signs ;  Spi- 
ders ;  Sympathetic  powder  ;  Toad ; 
Weather  ;  Witchcraft. 

Surgery  and  the  signs  of  the  zodiac, 
53  ff. ;  sympathetic  cures,  116  f. 

Susup,  Indian,  trial  of,  365  f. 

Sutcliff,  Robert,  on  cigars  and  top- 
boots,  220. 

Swallows,  hibernation  of,  167. 

Swamp  buttonwood,  312. 

Swamps,  clearing,  311  ff. 

Swapping  horses,  272. 

Sweeping  chimneys,  146. 


Swift,  Jonathan,  his  attack  on  Par- 
tridge, 44*ff . 

Swine,  bewitching  of,  206 ;  when  to  be 
killed,  66  f .,  305  ff. 

Switzerland,  witchcraft  in,  1 14. 

Sympathetic  powder,  115  ff . ;  Digby 
on,  115  ff. ;  discussed  in  Harvard 
theses  for  A.  M.,  116  f. 

Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  261. 

TACITUS,  on  Tuisco  or  Tuisto,  178. 

Taft's  inn,  at  Uxbridge,  Mass.,  270; 
Washington's  letter  to  the  land- 
lord, 270  f. 

Tailors,  dishonesty  of,  101  ff. 

Talcott,  painter,  16. 

Talcott,  Maj.  John,  services  in  King 
Philip's  War,  243. 

Tammany  Hall,  N.  Y.  hotel,  descrip- 
tion of,  279  f. 

Tantamous,  Indian,  370. 

Tarleton,  Col.  Banastre,  character  of, 
by  Charles  Pigot,  325  f. 

Tarratine  Indians,  Maine,  365  f. 

Tatatiqunea,  Peter,  Indian,  371. 

Taunton,  Mass.,  stage  from  Boston 
to,  289. 

Taverns,  262  ff. ;  fare  at,  123  f . ;  stand- 
ing of  landlords,  263  f.,  269  f. ;  man- 
ners of  landlords,  265  f. ;  in  Boston, 
163,  276  f.,  287  ff . ;  shows  at,  276 
f. ;  public  business  transacted  at, 
278  f . ;  tavern-haunting,  88,  94  f., 
272  ff. 

Taxes,  92  ;  stamp  duty  on  almanacs, 
46. 

Teele,  A.  K.,  13. 

Telegraph  Line  of  coaches,  296. 

Telescopes,  251  ff. 

Temperance  reform,  211,  275. 

Temple,  Sir  William,  on  moxa,  187. 

Tenor  bill,  352  f. 

Thacher,  James,  M.  D.,  essay  on  salt- 
making,  134;  his  Orchardist,  141  f. 

Theatres,  150. 

Thieving,  sermon  in  favor  of,  26. 

Thomas,  Aaron,  8. 

Thomas,  Isaiah,  his  almanac,  31,60  f. ; 
Isaiah,  Jr.,  42. 

Thomas,  John,  Indian  teacher,  343. 

Thomas,  Odoardo,  2. 

Thomas,  Robert  Bailey,  life  and 
character,  i  ff. ;  ancestors,  2  ff . ; 
education,  5  ff. ;  as  a  schoolmaster, 
6  ;  plan  of  making  an  Almanac,  6 


4OO 


INDEX 


ff. ;  as  bookbinder  and  bookseller, 

7  f. ;  studies  with  Osgood  Carleton, 

8  f. ;  sojourn  in  Boston,  9,  14  ;  por- 
trait,   16;   publication  of  the    Far- 
mer's Almanack,  17  ff. ;  retrospect 
of  fifty  years,  19  ff.  ;  signature,  22  ; 
replies  to  patrons  and  correspond- 
ents, 25   ff. ;   attitude   towards   as- 
trology, 39,  50  ff. ;  omits  the  Man  of 
the   Signs,    53 ;  refrains   from  mis- 
cellaneous illustrations,  68  ;  his  con- 
ception   of    an    almanac,    71  ;    his 
Farmer's  Calendar,  78  ff. ;  compari- 
son with  Cato,  80;  moral  and  pru- 
dential  advice,   80  ff. ;  opinion   of 
dogs,  84  ;  of  kitchen  gardens,  84  f. ; 
his  sense  of  humor,  86 ;  character 
sketches,  86   ff. ;  narrative   sketch, 
94  f. ;  his  opinion  of  lawyers,  98  ff. ; 
of  quack  doctors  and  quack  preach- 
ers, 100  f. ;  enthusiasm  for  America 
and    American    products,    121    ff. ; 
recommends  maple  sugar,  121  ff . ; 
on  slavery,  121  f . ;  sells  chapbooks, 
137  ;  portrait  of  an  itinerant  book- 
seller, 139  ff . ;  on  huskings,  168  f . ; 
on  changing  works,  179  ff. ;  on  spin- 
ning, 182;   on    the   dairy,    182;   on 
women  in  the  hayfield,  182  f.;   on 
Indian  summer,  191  ;   on  supersti- 
tion, 205  f. ;  on  trainings,   209;   on 
schools,  217  ff . ;    on  credulity  and 
newspapers,  250;  on  tavern-haunt- 
ing, etc.,  272  ff . ;  on  bowling,  276; 
on   railroads,    299,  301  f. ;    on    the 
moon,  305 ff.;  on  books  and  read- 
ing, 31 5  ff . ;  books  for  sale  by,  318  ff. 
See  also  Farmer's  Almanack. 

Thomas,  Solomon,  Indian,  349  f. 
Thomas,  William,  grandfather  of   R. 

13.,  2  ff. 

Thomas,  William,  father  of  R.  B.,  2  ff. 
Thompson,  Benjamin  :  see  Tompson. 
Thompson,  F.  M.,  on  stages,  296. 
Thompson,  Zadock,  his  gun,  244. 
Thomson,  George,  chemical  physician, 

118  f. ;  book  on   the  plague,   118; 

dissects   a   pestilential    body,   118; 

use  of  toad  as  remedy,  1 18. 
Thoreau,    Henry,   on   salt-works     on 

Cape  Cod,  135  ;  on  Indian  summer, 

194. 

Throwing  at  the  cock,  177. 
Tides,  28  ;  and  brain,  307. 
Tileston,  Mary  Wilder,  319. 


Timber,  sale  of  to  English  by  Indians, 
346  f. 

Time,  Father,  figures  of,  62  ff.,  378. 

Time-table  of  stages  from  Boston  in 
1801,  287  ff. 

Tithingman,  stops  travellers  on  Sun- 
day, 238  f. 

Titles  of  honor,  234  ff. ;  fondness  for, 

234- 

Tituba,  Indian  woman,  no. 
Tiverton,  Conn.,  a  cunning  man  of,  40. 
Tiw,   Germanic    god,   and   Tuesday, 

179 ;  identified  by  Cotton   Mather 

with  Tuisco,  179. 
Toad,  duel  with  spider,  104  ff. ;  jewel 

in  head  of,  107  ;  in  superstition  and 

folk-lore,  114  ff. ;  in  literature,  115  ; 

use  in  the  plague,  etc.,  117  ;  service- 
able in  gardens,  119. 
Toadstone,  107. 
Tobacco  culture,  221  ;  smoke  used  in 

resuscitation    of     drowned,   162    f. 

See  Smoking. 
Tobias,   Indian,   murderer  of   Sassa- 

mon,  76. 

Todd,  C.  13.,  Life  of  Barlow,  171. 
Todd,  D.   P.,  on  astronomical  hoax, 

261. 

Tom  Thumb,  137. 
Tompson,    Benjamin,     schoolmaster 

and    poet,  elegy    on    Woodmancy 

and    Cheever,  233 ;  his  New-Eng- 
land's   Crisis,   356 ff.;    speech    of 

King  Philip,  357  f. 
Top  boots,  220. 
Top  spinning,  63  f. 
Tortugas,  salt  from,  133. 
Toteswamp,  Indian  ruler,  351. 
Touch,  ordeal  of:  see  Ordeal  of  the 

bier. 

Training,  military,  94,  208  ff.,  225. 
Travel,  means  of,  285  ff. ;  works  of, 

321  ff.;  fictitious,  322 ff. 
Travellers,  entertainment  for,  262  ff.; 

accommodated   at  private  houses, 

280  ff. 
Travellers  in   America :    see   Abdy ; 

Bennett;  Candler;  Carver;  Davis; 

Duncan  ;  Dwight ;  Hall ;  Harriott 

Hodgson  ;  James ;  Jones  ;  Kendall ; 

Lambert;  M'Robert;    Martineau  ; 

Melish ;     Priest;    Rochefoucault; 

Smith  ;  Smyth  ;  Sutcliff ;  Thoreau  ; 

Twining;  Volney  ;  Wansey;  Weld. 
Travelling  on  Sunday,  238  f. 


INDEX 


4OI 


Travis,  Daniel,  his  almanac,  60. 

Treating,  forbidden  at  trainings, 
2iof. 

Trees,  girdling,  311;  pruning,  313; 
grafting,  313. 

Tremont  St.,  Boston,  14. 

Trenck,  Baron,  Life  of,  recom- 
mended by  Mr.  Thomas,  316  f. 

Trumbull,  Benjamin,  D.D.,  his  Cen- 
tury Sermon,  317  ;  on  geographies, 

3r7- 
Trumbull,  J.  H.,  Natick  Dictionary, 

357- 
Tudor,  William,  on  the  Ancient  and 

Honorable      Artillery     Company, 

211. 
Tuesday,     origin     of     name,     179 ; 

Shrove  Tuesday,  177  ff. 
Tuisco  (Tuisto),  Germanic  deity,  in 

Tacitus,  178  ;  Cotton  Mather  on, 

17.7  ff. 
Tunis,  Bey  of,  demands  arms  of  the 

United  States,  208. 
Turkey-shooting,  at  taverns,  275  f. 
Turks,  conversion  of,  200. 
Tuscarora  Mountains,  304. 
Twilight,   Tim,  book-peddler,   139  ff. 
Twining,  Thomas,  on  stagecoaches, 

291  f. 

UNDERBRUSH:  see  Bushes. 

United     Fire     Society,    of    Boston, 

opposite  152. 
United    States,    formation    of,    17; 

future     prosperity     foretold,     17; 

Weather      Bureau,     191 ;     militia 

system,  208  ;  navy,  2i3ff. 
United  States,  man-of-war,  215. 
Upham,  C.  W.,  Salem    Witchcraft, 

112. 

Uppanippaquem,  Indian,  372. 
Upton,  Mass.,  225. 
Uring,      Capt.     Nathaniel,      Indian 

anecdote,  360  ff. 

Uskattuhgun,    Samuel,  Indian  saga- 
more, 369. 
Uxbridge,  Mass.,  innkeeper  at,  270. 

VAN  BERKLE,  Dutch  envoy,  u  f. 

Van  Helmont:  see  Helmont. 

Vane,  Sir  Henry,  residence  in  Bos- 
ton, 14. 

Vassalborough,  Maine,  husking  at, 
1 68. 

Vassall  estate,  Boston,  n,  14  ff. 


26 


Vassall,  William,  14. 

Vegetables,  84  f. 

Venom  of  toad,  spider,  etc.,  104  ff. ; 
antidotes,  104  ff. 

Venus,  the  planet,  taken  for  an  elec- 
tric light,  261. 

Vermont,  Williams's  History  of,  rec- 
ommended by  Mr.  Thomas,  316. 

Vermont  Nimrod,  the,  240  f. 

Verses  contributed  to  the  Almanac, 
28  ff.  See  also  Poetry. 

Victoria,  Queen,  193. 

Virginia,  Indians  of,  196;  marksmen 
of,  246 ;  inns  in,  265  f.,  283  f. ;  hos- 
pitality, 283  f. 

Volcanoes  and  earthquakes,  201. 

Volney,  C.  F.  C.,  comte  de,  on  In- 
dian summer,  192. 

Voyage,  horoscope  for,  39  f . 

WABAN,  Indian  ruler,  warrant  as- 
cribed to,  334  f.  ;  Eliot  in  his  wig- 
wam, 335  f.;  his  character,  336  f . ; 
first  convert,  336 ;  made  a  Ruler  of 
Fifty  337  J  as  a  judge,  337  ;  princi- 
pal ruler  at  Natick,  337  ;  informs 
the  English  of  King  Philip's  pro- 
jects, 337  ;  nature  of  his  authority, 
337  f->  344 !  confined  at  Deer  Is- 
land, 343  f. ;  speech  on  release, 
343  f. ;  death,  344  ;  unable  to  write, 
344 ;  deeds  signed  by  him,  344 ; 
offers  his  son  to  be  educated,  345; 
letters  addressed  to,  372  f. 

Waban,  Hannah,  347. 

Waban,  Thomas,  Indian  warrant 
ascribed  to,  335  ;  anecdote  of,  335  ; 
his  English  education,  345  f.  ; 
signs  deeds,  345  ;  connection  with 
the  Indian  title  to  Groton,  Mass., 
345  f. ;  town  clerk  of  Natick, 
Mass.,  346  f. ;  specimen  of  his 
records  in  Indian  and  English, 
346 ;  selectman  of  Natick,  347  ;  ac- 
quainted with  Judge  Sewall, 
348  f. ;  title  of  Captain,  350. 

Waban,  Thomas,  Jr.,  348. 

Wabquissit,  341. 

Wages,  1 80. 

Wagons,  285  ff. 

Waldron,  Isaac,  180. 

Wansey,  Henry,  on  Connecticut 
lawyers,  98  ;  on  taverns,  123  f. ;  on 
maple  sugar,  I23f. ;  on  increase 
in  travel,  287. 


4O2 


INDEX 


War  of  1812,  navy  in,  213  ff. 
Warrant,  Indian,  333  ff. 
Washington,    George,     234  ff.;     his 

opinion    of    Rufus    Putnam,    225; 

his  degree  of  LL.D.,  234  ff. ;  respect 

for,  238  ;  encounter  with  a  tithing- 

man,  238  ;  opinion  of  mosquitoes, 

248  f. ;  tour  in  New  England,  238, 

270;     letter     to    Landlord     Taft, 

270  f. ;  Life  of,  316. 
Watches,  89. 

Waterman,  Peter,  Indian,  334. 
Watermelons,  sugar  from,  128. 
Waters,  Anne,  murderess,  72. 
Waters,  T.   F.,   Life  of   John    Win- 

throp  the  Younger,  132. 
Watertown,   Mass.,  Fresh   Pond,  9 ; 

battle  between   mouse   and  snake 

at,    108 ;    stage    from    Boston   to, 

290  ;  Indians  near,  350. 
Wattasacompanum,  Indian,  341  f. 
Watts,  Isaac,  D.D.,  his  hymns  sold 

by  Mr.  Thomas,  318. 
Watuchpoo,  Indian,  agent  of  Philip, 

368. 

Weasels,  resuscitation  of,  120. 
Weather,    Indian    summer,    191    ff , ; 

comets,  191, 198  ff. ;  sun  spots,  191, 

198  ;  signs,  205  f. 
Webb,  John,  175. 
Wedding  in  New  England,  141  f. 
Weeden,  W.  B.,  on  salt-making,  133. 
Weeds,  when  to  pull,  306. 
Weld,  Isaac,  Jr.,  on  marksmanship, 

246;  on  mosquitoes,  248  f. 
Wells,  F.  P.,  on  wages,  180. 
Wenham,  Jane,  alleged  witch,  114. 
Werewolves,  159. 
Wesley,  John,  148. 
West,  John,  publisher  of  the  Farmer's 

Almanack  from  1797  to  1820,  34. 
West  Boylston,  Mass.,  98  ;  formation 

of,  4  f . 
West  Indies,  sugar,  121  f.,  125, 127f. ; 

salt,  133. 

Wharves,  smoking  on,  forbidden,  155. 
What  to  read,  315  ff. 
Wheat,  when  to  sow,  ^506;  smut  in, 

306;    difficulty  of   raising  in  New 

England,  327  ff . ;   blasting  of,  327 

ff. ;   effect  of  barberry  bushes  on, 

328  ff. 

Whipping,  as  punishment,  335, 350  ff. 
White,  Mary  Wilder,  318. 
White  Lion  tavern,  Boston,  288. 


Whitmore,  W.  H.,  139,  250,  341. 

Whitney,  Rev.  Peter,  History  of  Wor- 
cester County,  Mass.,  320. 

Whittier  on  the  Dark  Day,  203. 

Wicket,  Jeremy,  Indian,  334. 

Wicket  Island,  Mass.,  334. 

Wickett,  Simon,  Indian,  334. 

Wilder,  Mary,  318. 

Wilkes,  John,  10,  12,  13;  his  sister, 
Madam  Hayley,  9  ff . 

Willard,  Emma,  founder  of  female 
seminaries,  230. 

Willard,   Joseph,    on    Sewall's    fire, 

•53- 

William  Henry,  Fort,  march  to,  in 
I7S7<  4  >  massacre  at,  321. 

Williams,  Samuel,  his  Natural  and 
Civil  History  of  Vermont,  recom- 
mended by  Mr.  Thomas,  316. 

Williamson,  W.  D.,  historian  of 
Maine,  on  barberries  and  grain, 
332  ;  account  of  Tarratine  Indians, 
365  f.  ;  of  trial  of  Susup,  365  f. 

Willis,  William,  182,  309. 

Will-o'-the-wisp,  196. 

Willoughby,  C.  C.,  sketch  of  a  Mas- 
sachusetts Indian,  359. 

Wilson,  Rev.  John,  on  battle  between 
mouse  and  snake,  108;  account  of 
service  in  Waban's  wigwam,  336  ; 
character  of  Waban,  336;  on 
Thomas  Waban,  345. 

Windmills,  135  f. 

Wine,  262. 

Winnebago  Indians,  359. 

Winslow,  Edward,  358. 

Winthrop,  Gov.  John,  account  of  mur- 
ders, 75 ;  on  battle  between  mouse 
and  snake,  108. 

Winthrop,  John,  the  Younger,  letter 
from  Sir  Kenelm  Digby  to,  117; 
as  a  salt-maker,  132  f. 

Winthrop,  John,  F.  R.  S.,  on  sym- 
pathy in  medicine,  116. 

Winthrop,  Professor  John,  200  ff. ; 
his  degree  of  LL.  D.,  200,  235  ;  on 
comets,  200;  on  earthquakes,  200 
ff. ;  on  lightning  rods,  201  f. 

Winthrop,  Mass.,  Indian  dug  up  at, 

359- 

Witchcraft,  essay  on,  in  I.  Thomas's 
Almanack  for  1782,  60;  general 
considerations  on,  108  ff. ;  among 
Indians,  108  ff.,  336, 341  ;  at  Salem, 
noff. ;  in  New  England  and  else- 


INDEX 


403 


where,  no  ff. ;  Belknap  on,  no; 
Henry  More  and  Glanvil  on,  1 1 1  ; 
Addison  on,  1 14. 

Wizards,  Indian,  ioSff.,336,  341, 363  f. 

Women,  farm  labor  of,  182  f. ;  educa- 
tion of,  229  f. 

Wood,  when  to  cut,  306. 

Woodbridge,  Rev.  William,  the  "  Co- 
lumbus of  female  education,"  230. 

Woodmancy,  John,  elegy  on,  233. 

Woods,  Lydia,  3. 

Woodstock,  Conn.,  341. 

Woodward,  Daniel,  his  almanac,  49 f. ; 
astrology  in,  49  f. 

Worcester,  Mass.,  hospital  at,  15; 
American  Antiquarian  Society,  16, 
337  ff. ;  books  printed  at,  42 ;  rail- 
road from  Boston  to,  300  f. ;  Soci- 
ety of  Antiquity,  23 1,301  ;  Whitney's 
History  of,  328 ;  Indian  court  at, 


Worcester  Magazine,  5,  98. 
Wreckers,  96. 

Wright,  Aaron,  his  journal,  244. 
Wright,  Thomas,  Narratives  of  Sor- 
cery and  Magic,  114. 
Writing  schools,  5. 
Wiirzburg,  witchcraft  in,  113. 
Wuttke,  Adolf,  159. 

YALE  COLLEGE  (and  University),  ic8, 

122,  129,  140  f. 

Yankee  dialect,  87  ff.    See  Language. 
Yankee  Hero  tavern,  Boston,  289. 
Yarmouth,  Mass.,  salt-works  at,  129. 
Yellow  Day  of  1881,  205. 
Youghiegany  River,  304. 
Young,  Arthur,  123. 
Young  Hunting,  ballad,  161. 

ZADKIEL'S  almanac,  predictions,  47  f. 
Zodiac:  see  Signs. 


A    001  118  606     1 


